A few hours earlier...
The morning sun filtered through the translucent silk curtains, painting the room in soft golden tones that danced across the stone walls. The floral aroma mingled with the lingering crispness of winter still hung in the air, now intertwined with the musky, intimate scent that permeated the rumpled sheets and the space surrounding the grand bed.
Ren Zu slowly opened his eyes, his body relaxed after hours of intense dual cultivation. He stretched languidly, his defined muscles giving soft pops as he extended his arms overhead, feeling every fiber of his being revitalized—as though all physical fatigue had been completely erased. He sat up on the edge of the bed; the white sheet slid down to his waist, revealing his flawless physique.
His gaze descended to Feng Xue'er, still asleep beside him.
She lay on her side, her delicate body half-covered by the thin sheet that barely concealed her perfect curves. Her long black hair spilled like a cascade of ebony across the pillow and her snow-white shoulders. Her face—which was that of a celestial fairy—now carried an expression of utter exhaustion...
Ren Zu reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair from her face, his fingers grazing her soft skin with infinite tenderness.
A soft smile curved his lips.
He then took a deep breath and sat cross-legged at the edge of the bed, closing his eyes to examine the changes in his body after an entire night of dual cultivation. First, his profound strength had exploded upward; had he not deliberately suppressed it, he would have already advanced at least one or two more levels thanks to the sheer volume of energy.
From what he knew of the original story, Feng Xue'er had been the first person to receive the complete inheritance of the Phoenix Soul... In other words, it could no longer be described as something as simple as an "inheritance." It would be more accurate to say that the Divine Phoenix Spirit had bestowed its entire being upon a human. For these Divine Spirits—entities that had looked down upon all other existences since ancient times—to convert the last flames of their existence into power for a pitiful human, leaving not even a trace behind, and essentially destroying every last shred of the dignity and majesty that came with being a Divine Spirit... that should have been impossible for an ancient Divine Spirit to do. Yet the ancient Divine Phoenix Spirit of the Divine Phoenix Empire had done exactly that...
Because of her unique condition, she possessed the "Phoenix God Body," which was an extremely ideal incubator for dual cultivation training. The vital yin of the Phoenix in particular would refine and strengthen her partner's body, bloodline, and profound strength! When combined with his own "Immortal Jade Dragon Body"—perfectly suited for the path of dual cultivation—the benefits both parties gained were simply astonishing...
He had estimated an advance of only two levels because he understood very well the absurd gap between the Divine Path and the Mortal Realm. Once that threshold was crossed, every small step forward demanded a disproportionate amount of energy and comprehension; it was no longer a realm where easy leaps were possible—especially for him, who required an incomparably greater quantity than ordinary profound practitioners.
Aside from his profound strength, Ren Zu felt—in the deepest core of his soul and blood—the Divine Phoenix bloodline manifesting. He felt the blood coursing through his body as though it had always belonged to him.
The Divine Phoenix mark flashed on his forehead for a moment before vanishing...
This was a surprise!
He had truly received Feng Xue'er's complete inheritance?!
It didn't take long to understand: the Primordial Chaos that had formed his unique body had automatically refined a portion of the "essence" he had taken from Feng Xue'er—absorbing part of her inheritance, purifying it, strengthening it, and transforming it into something complete! He had even gained the Divine Phoenix's "Gift" of being able to be reborn after death; naturally, he had also gained access to the Phoenix Flames, which he could wield at will...
And then came the memories.
The memories of the Divine Phoenix herself flooded Ren Zu's mind like an overwhelming river of fire and light. They were not scattered fragments or incomplete visions. Before his consciousness, the [World Ode of the Phoenix] unfolded in its entirety. The Ten Stages—from the first to the tenth and final—unrolled one after another like flaming petals revealing the core of a sun. Every circulation of energy, every transformation of phoenix fire, every profound principle hidden within the art... everything was laid bare without the slightest reservation.
The most astonishing part was that he possessed all ten complete stages?! As far as he remembered, only seven stages existed on the Blue Polar Star. The rest should have been in the Realm of the Gods… right? Then why…? His thoughts wavered for a brief instant before a possibility emerged. Most likely… he had accessed the Divine Phoenix's genetic memories. What an unexpected effect of his physique in this regard...
With his innate genius, he comprehended all ten stages in a single instant.
The mastery bloomed so naturally that, to any observer, it would seem as though he had always been the legitimate heir of the Divine Phoenix—as if that art had been created for him from the very beginning.
After fully comprehending the [World Ode of the Phoenix] in his mind and quickly adjusting to the changes in his body, Ren Zu slowly opened his eyes.
A reddish-golden gleam flashed through his black pupils before disappearing.
He looked once again at Feng Xue'er, who slept deeply, her chest rising and falling in serene rhythm, completely unaware of the transformation that had just occurred in the man who was now her husband in every sense.
A slow, profound smile rose to his lips.
"Xue'er… you have no idea what a gift you gave me tonight."
He leaned down and placed a light, almost reverent kiss on her forehead.
"Thank you…"
It was then that a familiar voice echoed inside his mind.
"…Hmph. I didn't know I had such a perverted master…"
The tone was cold… but there was a clearly disguised irritation beneath it.
Ren Zu raised an eyebrow, his lazy smile deepening as he remained seated on the edge of the bed.
"Ah… so you're still here, Jiayue."
Silence.
"…W-Who said I was going anywhere?!" Hei Jiayue's voice returned, instantly sharper than usual. "But don't think I'm watching you all the time or anything!"
Ren Zu's smile grew deeper, amused.
"Mm. Of course. Pure coincidence that you appeared right now."
"S-Shut up!" she snapped, clearly annoyed. "If I didn't keep an eye on you, you'd probably have done something stupid already!"
He let out a low, soft chuckle through his nose.
"Such a fiery temper… but thank you for worrying about me."
"…Who's worried about you?! Hmph! Idiot… selfish… arrogant…"
The tantrum continued for a few more seconds, but the tone gradually softened, becoming quieter, almost muttering. Ren Zu could feel the subtle warmth she tried to hide behind her tsundere facade—that genuine concern she would never admit out loud.
He took a deep breath, letting the laughter fade slowly, and reached out to brush another strand of hair from Feng Xue'er's face. His voice, now calm and gentle, was heard by her.
"All right, all right. Sorry for teasing you. I know you care… and I care about you too. Truly."
Hei Jiayue fell silent for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was lower, almost shy.
"Stupid Master…"
Ren Zu didn't reply.
He rose slowly, his movements far too calm for someone who had seemed so relaxed just moments earlier. The sheet slipped from his body and fell silently to the floor, abandoned without a second thought. In the same instant, dark robes emerged from his spatial ring, as though they had been waiting for that exact moment.
He dressed without haste.
The fabric adjusted itself perfectly to his tall, imposing figure, molding to his body as though tailored for him alone. Every fold settled flawlessly, every line reinforcing the cold presence that naturally emanated from him.
It took only a few seconds.
The relaxed, sated man of minutes ago simply ceased to exist.
In his place remained his usual posture—erect, controlled, dangerously composed. The black eyes lost every trace of languor; now they were deep and sharp, carrying a silent determination so heavy it seemed capable of making even the heavens hesitate.
He walked to the large stone window and drew back the translucent curtain with a simple gesture.
In the distance, the Frozen Cloud Asgard rose majestically among the snow-covered peaks, enveloped by icy winds that swirled like invisible blades. The morning sun reflected off the eternal ice walls, making the palace look like a celestial jewel.
Ren Zu narrowed his eyes.
"…It's time."
His voice came out low and firm.
Yet inside his chest, something tightened—a rare, almost imperceptible nervousness he seldom allowed himself to feel. All the planning, all the preparations, every piece he had moved behind the scenes… everything converged on this moment.
He was finally going to eliminate his greatest obstacle in this world.
Hei Jiayue noticed his nervousness immediately.
"…Are you okay?"
The question came softly, without her usual huffiness. Only genuine concern.
Ren Zu closed his eyes for a second, breathing slowly, letting the nervousness settle…
"I'm fine."
A short pause.
When he opened his eyes again, the gaze was cold, deep, and implacable.
"Today… it all ends."
He returned to the edge of the bed.
For a long moment, he simply watched Feng Xue'er sleep. Her chest rose and fell in serene rhythm, her face relaxed and innocent. His hand extended. His fingers brushed her cheek with a tenderness that violently contrasted with his earlier coldness—a light, almost reverent caress, tucking another strand of hair behind her ear.
After that, he sat cross-legged beside her and closed his eyes—preparing to take possession of Fen Juechen's body and deal with the "trash" once and for all.
Before the full transfer, his voice echoed softly to Hei Jiayue.
"Jiayue… Take care of my body."
Absolute silence for an instant.
"…Hmph. As if you needed to ask…" she murmured at last, quieter than usual. "Just… don't take too long…"
And then Ren Zu took possession of Fen Juechen's body, taking the first concrete step in his plans to dethrone the heavens of that world.
Without wasting time, he began to act.
He raised an extremely high-level profound formation that expanded until it completely enveloped the Illusory Demon Imperial City, sealing the space and isolating the area with absolute perfection. Next, he released the Divine Burial Mist, spreading it silently throughout the city. The effect was immediate: one by one, everyone fell unconscious—exactly as he had predicted.
The Divine Burial Mist had been refined by him long ago and kept hidden in a secure location within the Illusory Demon Realm for use at this very moment… Now, controlling Fen Juechen's body, all he needed to do was retrieve it at the right time.
After completing the preparations, Ren Zu moved without the slightest hesitation. With a single spatial shift, he pulled Yun Che directly in front of him, as though dragging a pre-marked piece across the board. In the next instant, his posture, expression, and even the ripple of his aura changed subtly; the imitation of Fen Juechen became flawless, leaving no perceptible gaps.
Before any interference could arise, he sealed the inner space of the Heaven's Poison Pearl, completely isolating Jasmine. For someone at the peak of spatial manipulation, that was a trivial task.
Even so, he deliberately left a narrow slit of perception open—not to help her, but so she could watch what was about to happen from the outside. Even while she was guarded inside the spatial ring possessed by Fen Juechen, space was nothing more than a toy in his hands. Doing something like that… was easy.
The rest was carried out with ruthless efficiency…
In mere moments, Yun Che was reduced to a wretched state: limbs severed, legs crushed, body on the verge of collapse. The pills were forced down his throat at the precise moment, keeping him trapped in that cruel threshold between life and death—conscious enough not to escape, alive enough to still be useful. With the target fully suppressed, Ren Zu began extracting, one by one, the legacies and treasures tied to him, moving with the precision of someone who had planned every step long before this encounter.
Only after finishing everything did he minimally relax his focus.
His main consciousness returned to his original body, while a carefully controlled fragment remained sustaining control over Fen Juechen's body. He had avoided splitting his attention earlier for one simple reason: in that critical moment, even the slightest dispersion would have been an unnecessary risk. He was not the type to allow variables when victory was already within reach…
While making Fen Juechen fall to his knees and controlling the body to weep with relief and murmur that he had finally taken revenge…
Ren Zu slowly opened his eyes; for the first time in a very long while, a genuine smile curved his perfect lips. It was not the calculated smile, nor the sarcastic one, nor even the loving one that only his wives could draw from him. It was simply… relieved.
For two years that presence had been a shadow clinging to his mind—an irritating, persistent obsession, like a thorn embedded too deeply to ignore. No matter how many plans he set in motion, a part of his consciousness had always remained tense and vigilant… But now that everything had ended so decisively, the weight he had carried for years—the constant tension of plotting against the creator of that world, of moving invisible pieces in the shadows—simply seemed to dissolve in that instant.
His shoulders visibly relaxed. The previously rigid, imposing posture softened, and even his breathing became lighter, as though he were finally releasing a breath held for decades.
He was free.
And, for the first time in a very long time… his mind knew peace.
As for the fact that the Ancestral Goddess had not interfered in all of this?
At present, she no longer possessed enough power to interfere directly in events. Even so, her nature remained absolute: her power was connected to the entire Primordial Chaos, and in truth, Primordial Chaos itself was the source of her existence. As long as it existed, she could never be truly destroyed. More than someone born from Primordial Chaos, it would be more accurate to say that she was the very consciousness of Primordial Chaos.
Over the passing eras, that consciousness matured until it became a complete life form endowed with supreme intelligence. It was she who created the primordial language, established the system of profound energy circulation and storage, and opened the path for future generations to cultivate profound energy. She was also the creator of the profound arts capable of maximizing the potential of living beings. However, as the only conscious existence within Primordial Chaos, what accompanied her was an eternal, unchangeable loneliness.
All the vital energy of Primordial Chaos had originally been concentrated in her. As long as she continued to exist in that form, no other being could be born. Thus, after only ten million years of existence—a mere blink on her scale—she made the decision to voluntarily dissipate, scattering her essence throughout the entire Primordial Chaos Dimension and finally allowing life to flourish. That act marked the true beginning of the Era of the Gods.
Before disappearing, however, the Ancestral Goddess left meticulous preparations. She deposited part of her memories into eight fragments of life, which were scattered throughout Primordial Chaos along with her dissolution. Four of those fragments fell into the Northern Primordial Chaos and eventually gave rise to the Four Great Devil Emperors, supreme ancestors of the Demon Race. The other four fell into the Southern Primordial Chaos, becoming the origin of the Four Creation Gods, primordial leaders of the Divine Race.
Countless eras later, upon realizing that the "Abyss of Nothingness" was spiraling out of control and threatening to destroy all of Primordial Chaos, she made another extreme decision: to resurrect through the cycle of reincarnation. Her plan was to accumulate power across successive lives until she forged the Ancestral Sacred Body—a process that would require exactly one thousand complete cycles. During the first 999 reincarnations, she retained the Ancestral Will and her memories, ensuring the process proceeded correctly. However, in the thousandth reincarnation, the rule changed: she had to undergo a true reincarnation, forgetting everything.
That thousandth incarnation… is Xiao Lingxi.
When the cycle of one thousand lives was complete, her powers, body, and memories would awaken upon Xiao Lingxi's death—although, under certain circumstances, that fate could still be altered before the final moment.
Of course, all of this planning somehow involved Yun Che, but she no longer had the power to interfere directly. All she could do was force destiny toward certain "luck"-related events that would allow him to survive somehow and always grow stronger. Something she undoubtedly attempted—but he had taken every possible precaution and avoided killing him outright so the timeline would not collapse or something similar.
Hm? What did he do?
In practice, he had already taken every conceivable precaution even before acting.
From completely isolating the Blue Polar Star by raising a barrier that prevented any external interference—especially from possible unexpected allies of Jasmine who might appear and put him in a crossfire—to directly suppressing Fen Juechen's consciousness to the maximum, he left no loose ends.
He was unwilling to risk Fen Juechen regaining lucidity at the critical moment, remembering Xiao Lingxi, and hesitating to attack Yun Che. To him, any emotional variable was simply another potential flaw in the plan.
In other words, he made every preparation imaginable to ensure his plan succeeded; his excessive caution saved him from failure…
With everything prepared, he immediately attacked with full force and speed to neutralize any possibility of Yun Che retaliating. Being able to borrow the strength of his original body made it quite easy… everything worked perfectly…
Now he could continue his life without worries. He only needed to put on a small show and then move forward…
That was why he smiled so genuinely.
The smile deepened as he felt the subtle movement beside him.
Feng Xue'er awoke slowly, like a flower opening to the first ray of sunlight after a long stormy night. Her long lashes trembled before lifting, revealing deep, crystalline blue eyes that seemed to contain entire oceans. For a moment she blinked in confusion, still half-lost between sleep and reality, her face adorably puffy from sleeping deeply after absolute exhaustion.
Then she saw him.
And the entire world seemed to stop.
"Husband…?"
Her voice came out small, sweet, shy—exactly as it had been before that night. There was no mature embarrassment, no acquired sensuality, not even a trace of adult awkwardness. Only the same pure, childish, infatuated Feng Xue'er who had once looked at him with shining eyes… She still gazed at him with that crystalline innocence, as though nothing had changed.
was as if, for her, everything that had happened had simply been another way of showing how much she loved him… Just like with Xia Qingyue, he was now spiritually linked to her, able to sense her location and clearly perceive the fluctuations of her emotions. From what he could tell, she had successfully almost forgotten her Big Brother Yun. Even so, she must have felt strange whenever she thought of him or any other man—an instinctive revulsion rising in her heart.
Ren Zu leaned down slowly, propping himself on one arm beside her head, the other gently sliding along her flushed cheek.
"Good morning, Xue'er."
His voice came out low, affectionate, almost a whisper.
Her eyes widened a little more, then curved into happy half-moons. A shy, radiant smile lit up her entire face, making her cheeks even rosier.
"Husband… you're already awake…"
She stretched her slender arms toward him, her jade-like fingers trembling slightly from sleep and happiness. She didn't even seem to care about covering herself and simply opened her arms like a child wanting to be held, without the slightest trace of shame or adult mischief.
"Hug…"
Ren Zu chuckled softly; the deep, warm sound filled the quiet room. He lay down beside her again, pulling her into his chest with one strong yet gentle arm. Her small, warm body fit perfectly against his, as though it had been molded for that exact place. She buried her face in his neck, inhaling deeply the familiar scent, and let out a long, contented sigh.
"You're so warm… and you smell nice…" she murmured against his skin, her voice muffled and sleepy.
Ren Zu pulled back slightly from the embrace and cupped her face with both hands, his thumbs gently caressing her rosy cheeks. His black eyes—still carrying that cold determination buried deep in his soul—softened as he looked at her.
"Unfortunately, Xue'er… we'll have to return to the Illusory Demon Realm in a few minutes. Something urgent came up that I need to take care of…"
The words came out low, almost reluctant. He saw the light in her blue eyes flicker for an instant.
Feng Xue'er blinked; the innocent smile trembled slightly on her lips. She glanced toward the window, where snowflakes still danced lazily against the glass, as if they wanted to stay there with them forever.
"Already…? But… the snow… I wanted to watch it fall a little longer…" Her voice came out small, almost childish, carrying a sweet, genuine sadness. Her slender fingers tightened lightly on his clothes, as though she could hold him there. "It's so beautiful here… so quiet… it feels like a dream…"
She lowered her gaze, long lashes shadowing her cheeks, but she didn't complain. She only nodded, obedient as always, her pure heart allowing not even a hint of tantrum or demand.
"But… if Husband needs to go… then I'll go with you. Wherever you go, I'll go…"
Ren Zu smiled again.
"Then let's go pick up Qingyue and we can leave…"
________________________
(A/N: I have a proposal for you, everyone! 🎯
The first goal has been successfully reached: 300 Power Stones have already been collected! Congratulations to everyone who participated — thanks to you, here's the chapter I promised, I hope you enjoyed it!! 🎉
Now, the next goal is 600 Power Stones. But I'll have to be a little cruel: the valid milestone is by the end of tonight! If we reach it, another extra chapter will be released immediately.
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