The moon hung high over the Cloudsoaring Peak, casting a soft, silver glow through the bamboo screens of the Grand Elder's former bedroom.
Inside, the air was thick with mist and the sweet scent of lotus blossoms.
Yan Shuo sat cross-legged on the massive jade bed, his breathing slow and steady. Behind him, Tantai Zhi was pressed against his back. Her soft hands were planted firmly against his shoulder blades, funneling a gentle, warm stream of pure Yin Qi into his body to help soothe the lingering stress of his rapid breakthrough.
It was a highly intimate exchange. Their auras were completely intertwined, humming in perfect harmony.
"Husband's foundation is so solid," Tantai Zhi murmured softly, her breath tickling his ear. "Normally, a new Foundation Establishment cultivator's Qi is like wild water. Yours is like a calm, deep ocean."
"That is because my wife takes such good care of me," Yan Shuo replied lazily, his eyes closed in contentment.
He decided to return the favor. He gathered a small thread of his newly formed golden Qi and sent it cycling back through her palms, gently tracing the pathways of her meridians to ease her fatigue.
As his Qi flowed into her, his senses naturally extended, mapping out the terrifying, vast spiritual sea of the untouchable Saintess. She was flawlessly powerful. Her body was practically a temple of pure jade.
But then, his Qi brushed past her left shoulder blade, and Yan Shuo frowned slightly.
Hidden deep beneath her flawless skin, masked entirely by her overwhelming spiritual power, was a flaw. It was a faded, deeply scarred network of dead tissue. Three jagged lines, like the swipe of a massive claw.
Yan Shuo's veteran instincts immediately recognized the signature. It wasn't a sword wound. It was the venomous lingering scar of a Three-Tailed Nether Wolf.
He opened his eyes in the dark, his mind racing.
A Nether Wolf? Those beasts were native to the desolate Northern Wastelands, thousands of miles away from the Azure Sword Sect. More importantly, a cultivator at Tantai Zhi's level could effortlessly regrow a severed arm, let alone heal an old animal scratch. Why would she intentionally leave a scar on her soul?
Behind him, completely relaxed and entirely comfortable, Tantai Zhi began to hum.
It was a simple, repetitive tune. It was also completely, hilariously off-key.
Yan Shuo froze.
A memory, buried under a hundred years of dust and blood, suddenly flickered in his mind.
A freezing night in the Northern Wastelands. A crackling campfire. He was wiping black wolf blood off his sword. Sitting across from him was a starving, dirty little beggar girl wrapped in his spare cloak, humming that exact same off-key tune while roasting a piece of wolf meat he had just killed to save her.
Yan Shuo's heart skipped a beat.
Could it be?
He quickly shook his head, instantly dismissing the thought as absurd. The little beggar girl was a mortal with zero cultivation talent. He had given her some food, tossed her a few spirit stones, and left her at a mortal village the next morning. She used to follow him around like a lost duckling for a few days, but he had a world to conquer and enemies to kill.
There was absolutely no way that dirty, talentless crying child had survived a hundred years of the brutal cultivation world to become the most terrifying, majestic Saintess on the continent. It defied all logic.
It's just a coincidence, Yan Shuo told himself firmly. Nether Wolves are common enough in the north, and a lot of people hum off-key. She just happened to bind her soul to me yesterday because I got lucky.
Besides, he couldn't exactly turn around and ask her, "Hey, did I save you from a wolf a century ago?" Nobody knew he was a reincarnated Demon Lord. As far as the world was concerned, he was a fifteen-year-old kid. Keeping his mouth shut was the best way to stay alive.
"Husband?" Tantai Zhi asked softly, noticing the slight pause in his breathing. "Is something wrong? Did my Qi hurt you?"
"No, Wife. Everything is perfect," Yan Shuo lied smoothly, relaxing his shoulders. "I think I'm just getting sleepy."
Tantai Zhi instantly pulled him down onto the soft silk pillows, happily wrapping her arms and legs around him like a possessive octopus. "Then sleep, Husband. I will guard you."
Yan Shuo closed his eyes, deciding to push the strange coincidence to the back of his mind. He was a pragmatic man. Whether she was a random yandere or a ghost from his past didn't change the fact that the bed was incredibly comfortable.
---
The next morning, the peace of the Cloudsoaring Peak was interrupted by a very polite, very nervous knock at the courtyard gate.
Yan Shuo was sitting in his bamboo chair, sipping a fresh cup of morning tea. Tantai Zhi was sitting on the ground next to him, resting her head on his knee.
"Come in," Yan Shuo called out.
The heavy wooden doors slowly creaked open. Sect Master Zhao stood there, holding a glowing golden scroll. He looked like a man walking to his own execution. He kept his eyes firmly glued to the floor tiles, absolutely terrified of making eye contact with the Saintess.
"Lord Yan. Saintess," Sect Master Zhao bowed deeply. "Please forgive this old man for interrupting your morning rest."
"It's fine, Sect Master," Yan Shuo smiled warmly. "Did you bring more tea? I quite like this batch."
"I... ah, no, Lord Yan," Zhao swallowed hard, his hands trembling as he held up the glowing scroll. "I bring an official decree from the Righteous Alliance."
The temperature in the courtyard instantly dropped.
Tantai Zhi didn't look up from Yan Shuo's knee, but her golden eyes darkened. "Didn't I tell that silver bug not to bother us anymore?"
"S-Saintess, please!" Sect Master Zhao dropped to his knees, holding the scroll above his head. "The Alliance didn't send an army! They sent a bureaucratic edict! It is a continent-wide law that all major sects must abide by!"
Yan Shuo raised an eyebrow, amused. "A bureaucratic edict? Let's hear it."
Sect Master Zhao unrolled the scroll with shaking fingers. "By the decree of the Alliance Council... all disciples who have recently broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm are formally summoned to participate in the decennial Mystic Realm Trial. This trial is mandatory for the allocation of sect resources."
Zhao looked up, his face pale. "Lord Yan... because you broke through yesterday, your name was automatically registered by the Heavenly Dao pillars. The Alliance is demanding your participation."
Yan Shuo leaned back, tapping his chin.
He had to admit, the old foxes in the Righteous Alliance were smart. They knew they couldn't send assassins after him because Tantai Zhi would slaughter them. They couldn't wage open war without massive casualties. So, they used the rules.
If a sect refused a mandatory Alliance summons, they would be branded as demonic traitors, cutting off all trade, resources, and protection. The Alliance was legally forcing Yan Shuo to step out of his safe haven and enter a dangerous trial where 'accidents' happened all the time.
It was a flawless political trap.
"How bold," Tantai Zhi whispered.
She finally lifted her head. A terrifying, bloody smile stretched across her flawless face. The tea in Yan Shuo's cup began to physically freeze from the sheer, unadulterated killing intent leaking off her body.
"They want to play with rules?" she asked the air, her voice dripping with venom. "I will go to the Central Continent right now. I will rip out the spine of the Alliance Leader and use it to write a new rulebook. We will see who summons my husband then."
She stood up, her red robes snapping in an invisible, violent wind.
"Wife, wait," Yan Shuo chuckled, reaching out to gently tug on her sleeve.
Tantai Zhi paused, looking down at him. "But Husband, they are trying to trick you into a dangerous place. I must destroy them."
"I know," Yan Shuo said soothingly. "But if you destroy the Alliance, the whole continent will plunge into chaos. Refugees will flood the sects, the economy will crash, and we won't be able to buy those expensive spiritual grapes you like so much. It sounds like a lot of annoying noise."
Tantai Zhi frowned, clearly torn between her desire for mass murder and her desire to feed her husband grapes.
Yan Shuo looked at the trembling Sect Master. "Where is this Mystic Realm located? And what makes it so special that the Alliance is so confident I'll have an 'accident' there?"
Sect Master Zhao hurriedly checked the scroll. "It is an ancient, highly dangerous ruin recently unearthed in the Southern Swamps, Lord Yan. The environment is entirely toxic, and it is filled with deadly traps. But most importantly... the ruin is protected by an ancient array that completely bars any cultivator above the Core Formation stage from entering."
Zhao swallowed hard, glancing nervously at Tantai Zhi. "The Saintess... cannot follow you inside. You will be entirely alone."
Yan Shuo blinked. Then, a slow, genuine smile spread across his face.
Ah.
The Righteous Alliance thought Yan Shuo was just a pampered, fifteen-year-old soft-rice eater. They thought that without the Saintess holding his hand, he was just a weak boy who had gotten lucky with a pill. They were planning to lock him inside a dangerous ruin with all of their wealthiest, most elite young geniuses, where no elders could intervene.
They thought they were setting a death trap for him.
Yan Shuo, a veteran Demon Lord who had spent a century fighting in the bloodiest battlefields the continent had ever seen, saw it very differently. To him, the Alliance was basically locking a flock of fat, wealthy sheep in a cage with a starved tiger, and politely locking the door so the sheep couldn't escape.
It wasn't a trial. It was a free shopping spree.
"Sect Master," Yan Shuo said, his eyes gleaming with lazy, predatory anticipation. "Tell the Righteous Alliance that I humbly accept their generous invitation."
"L-Lord Yan, are you sure?" Zhao stammered. "The vault is incredibly dangerous! The Alliance disciples will surely target you once you are inside!"
"I am perfectly sure," Yan Shuo said smoothly. He stood up and patted his wife's arm.
"Wife," Yan Shuo smiled, stretching his neck until it popped. "Don't bother sharpening your sword. Just pack me some nice tea leaves, a few empty storage rings, and some snacks. It seems I have some errands to run."