Chapter 3

Ignorant, Liu Ying demanded, "What sword is it?"

The old official's teeth chattered as he forced out a single word, filled with terror: "Duanyuan."

At the sound of that name, Liu Ying froze, her face drained of all color.

But before the assembled gods could recover, a commanding voice, laced with authority, descended from the clouds.

"Cease this fearmongering!"

"Jin Yao, Lord of the Abyssal Void, was vanquished by my own hand. That demonic blade, Duanyuan, was utterly destroyed and can never reappear."

"The three realms now enjoy eternal peace. How can you, esteemed deities, fall into such disarray!"

I would never mistake that voice. It belonged to my greatest enemy, Jun Che.

The man who had once hurt me most deeply.

That's right. I am the very source of all demons he claimed was long dead.

The one and only master of the chaotic demonic realm, the Abyssal Void, who once stood as his equal: Jin Yao.

Back then, to pacify the Abyssal Void, Jun Che had entered it alone. We were supposed to be mortal enemies, but a chance encounter led to us knowing one another.

For a full thousand years, he showered me with tenderness.

I was born of chaos, cold by nature and a stranger to love. It was he who patiently taught me what it meant to cherish another.

Under the spell of his sweet words, I willingly lowered my demonic realm's defenses and signed a peace treaty with the Celestial Realm.

So when he later said he wanted to take me as his wife and protect me for all eternity, I let down all my defenses without a second thought.

We were husband and wife for a thousand years, and I believed us to be as devoted as ever.

I thought ours would be a legendary tale of love, one that transcended the boundary between gods and demons.

Until I discovered he already had a beloved in the mortal realm.

Her name was Chao Yan, the very mortal who now sits on the throne of the Celestial Empress.

Chao Yan, with her mortal body, could not withstand the divine power of the Celestial Realm. The only way for her to survive was to find a powerful enough source of energy to forge an immortal body.

Unwilling to harm the interests of any god in the Celestial Realm, Jun Che set his sights on me.

On our wedding day, he laid a deadly trap. While I was completely unguarded, he cruelly thrust his hand into my chest.

I did not yet know I was pregnant. The blow crippled me, leaving me powerless to fight back.

I stared at him, my eyes filled with disbelief, but he left me with only a single, cold phrase: "For the peace of the three realms."

Then he ripped out the Abyssal Heart, the source of my power, and with a single palm strike, shattered my very soul.

Even my sword, Duanyuan, was cast into the dust and crushed to powder with my remains.

But my unborn child saved me.

That poor child exhausted all its life force to protect the last fragment of my soul.

After a hundred years of slumber, that fragment finally formed a new body, but I was so weak I felt I could expire at any moment.

My heart was filled with a bone-deep hatred. Even knowing I had lost my Abyssal Heart, I dragged my broken body toward the Nine Heavens, desperate for revenge.

But my life force was depleted. A simple blizzard could have killed me.

Just as I was about to freeze to death in a mountain ravine, a pair of calloused hands took hold of me.

The herb-gathering Mr. Gu looked at me with heartache in his eyes, wrapping me in his worn outer robe. "In this snow and ice... you poor, ill-fated child. Do not be afraid. This old man will take you home."

I thought it a momentary act of kindness, but he truly sheltered me in Green-Pouch Valley for a hundred years.

By the year I finally found the fragments of Duanyuan and reforged them into an ebony fan, my body had recovered.

I secretly planned my assault, preparing to storm the Celestial Palace and take Jun Che down with me.

But the night before I was to leave, Master walked into my room with a steaming bowl of Hundred-Herb Soup.

Unaware of my murderous intent, he simply rubbed his hands together with a cheerful smile.

"Shuang'er, you have seemed distracted lately, and you have grown so thin. This is a new recipe I just developed, perfect for calming the spirit and replenishing your energy."

"Drink it while it is hot. If you do not like the taste, I will change the herbs for you tomorrow."

"If you like it, I will make it for you every day from now on."

I froze for a moment, then asked warily, "We are not related. Why are you so good to me?"

My master stroked his graying beard and smiled with paternal warmth. "Because I have long considered you a daughter of my own."

"If anything happened to my daughter, would her father's heart not break? I am an old man. All I want is for my family to be safe and sound."

In that moment, looking at his back, slightly stooped from long nights brewing medicine for me, the heart that had been frozen for a century finally shattered.

So, there was truly someone in this world who cherished me.

Suddenly, I no longer wanted revenge.

I turned Duanyuan into a simple folding fan and placed it on my desk, burying my past of blood and vengeance, along with my identity as a demon lord, deep within the valley.

But I never imagined that Jun Che would again be the one to destroy the peace I had fought so hard for, reigniting a century of suppressed hatred, both old and new.

I slowly raised my head, my grip tightening on the black sword that hummed with insatiable hunger, and stared at the lofty, ethereal figure in the clouds.

I spoke, my voice soft but clear. "Jun Che. I trust you have been well."