Shen Fuxin stood where she was, her head bowed slightly as a shadow of blackness crept into her eyes, spreading ever wider.
“Senior Xue Hen, may I have more time to think about this?”
Though her tone remained calm, the chill behind it radiated pure rejection.
Xue Hen’s expression soured at once. “More time to think? You’ll always dodge me with that line! When I saved your life atop Juexin Peak, I fell for you at first sight. Yet you rejected me then, and you still refuse now. I wager you haven’t forgotten that wraith called Ye Yu, have you? He even brought his ‘wife’ here—why can’t you let go?”
In the rear courtyard, Ye Yu’s expression shifted sharply.
She likes me? When? And how does Xue Hen even know that?
In the front courtyard, the darkness in Shen Fuxin’s eyes deepened. She shook her head hard but said nothing.
Xue Hen sneered, “You snuck glances at him with your Reflection Stone, and now that he stands before you, you don’t even dare look at him. If that’s the case, why won’t you give me a chance?”
Shen Fuxin grit her teeth and replied softly, “I haven’t decided yet. Give me more time.”
“Fine,” Xue Hen snapped. “I’ll give you time—until you choose me. Only then will I save that woman. Otherwise, let her wait forever! Truth be told, the longer her inner devil remains, the weaker her true consciousness grows, until it vanishes entirely. She doesn’t have long left!”
Dropping all pretense, Xue Hen’s threat rang out as he swept his sleeve and turned to leave.
But at that moment, Ye Yu thundered forward and struck him with a single punch.
Caught off guard, Xue Hen flew backward in an arc.
“That bastard—using people like this to threaten others, you’ve no shame at all!” Ye Yu snarled, moving to advance—but a hand gripped his wrist.
“Shen Fuxin, don’t stop me. I’ll beat him half to death first. As for banishing her inner devil—wait until...”
Before Ye Yu could finish, a voice cut in.
“You call him a bastard—yet what you did just now wasn’t any less shameless.”
Ye Yu spun around, shocked to see Shen Fuxin’s eyes now completely black.
Utterly grotesque.
She yanked him forward until he stood before her, her inky gaze locked on his.
“Chu Ge was right! We knew each other first, I brought you into the Divine Realm. We should be the ones together. Why did you choose Gu Ji as your wife?”
“And most importantly, Gu Ji doesn’t mind you being with me—so why did you refuse? Do you despise me so much? If you despised me so, why appear now? Do you enjoy teasing me, keeping me forever lost in illusions? Tell me—is that it? Answer me!”
Shen Fuxin’s voice rose to a shriek, brimming with fury.
A number appeared above her: eight million.
“Negative emotion value: heartbreak.”
At that moment, Xue Hen, shaken by Ye Yu’s blow, had recovered and returned. Seeing the scene, he sneered, “Ye Yu, Ye Yu—you’re truly a calamity. Both women by your side fall to ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) inner devils. How entertaining!”
Indeed, Shen Fuxin was now wholly controlled by her inner devil.
But when had it taken hold? Why had no one noticed?
Ye Yu knew now was not the time to ponder. He swiftly struck Shen Fuxin with a disabling blow.
Given his current realm, subduing a late-stage New God like her was far too easy.
Xue Hen snapped his fingers, and crystalline snowflakes drifted down from the sky.
“How desperate—both of them under inner-devil control. Want to save them? Kneel and beg me!” his voice taunted.
Ye Yu laid Shen Fuxin aside and strode toward Xue Hen. “Has anyone told you—you’re truly detestable?”
Before he could strike, Xue Hen dissolved into a swirl of snowflakes, vanishing entirely. His presence felt utterly gone from the pavilion.
Yet the snow continued to fall—and fell ever more thickly.
Xue Hen’s mocking voice echoed around them: “I wonder where a mere wraith like you found such power. A single punch shook my spirit—but don’t forget, this is the Divine Realm. Mortal strength cannot rival divine arts!”
Ye Yu frowned, feeling a sudden pain in his shoulder. Snowflakes, sharper than blades, had pierced his divine robe and flesh. Since mastering Magic Over Heaven, he had not been wounded—but this was different. Instantly alert, he formed a thought.
A gale-force wind sprang up, sweeping the snowflakes into a dense swirl.
At first he meant only to stop their assault, but as they gathered, numbers appeared above them: sixty-eight million.
“Negative emotion value: resentment.”
Ye Yu realized then that Xue Hen was everywhere—the snowflakes were both his weapon and his true form.
That made things far simpler.
He refined his divine power to unleash Fearful Hell.
From all around, Xue Hen’s voice cut through: “What divine art is this? So strange, stirring resentment in the heart. It almost made me abandon torturing you and kill you outright! If you think to disturb my mind this way, it’s not nearly enough!”
“Patience—there’s more to come!”
Ye Yu brought his hands together and unleashed Fearful Hell upon the snow.
Moments later, Xue Hen lay dead as a corpse—and Ye Yu accessed all his memories.
Rage surged within him. He turned and reduced the frozen body to ash.
