The cave mansion's formations still hummed with residual qi from the night before when the first crack appeared in their fragile peace.
Zhao Tian did not wait for proof.
He marched straight to the sealed entrance of Grand Elder Zhao Wuji's seclusion chamber, located in the deepest part of Crimson Flame Mountain's core. The entrance was guarded by triple-layered formations that only Nascent Soul experts could breach.
Zhao Tian slammed his palm against the outer barrier, voice booming with barely contained rage.
"Master! Disciple Zhao Tian begs an audience! There is treachery in the sect!"
Silence.
Then, a low rumble shook the mountain.
The formations parted like water.
Zhao Wuji emerged—tall, stern, hair streaked with silver, aura already at early Nascent Soul after centuries of seclusion. His eyes were cold, but sharp, taking in his favorite disciple's disheveled state.
"What madness brings you here before I complete my breakthrough?" Zhao Wuji's voice echoed like distant thunder.
Zhao Tian dropped to one knee.
"Master… my fiancée, Saintess Ling Xue'er… her qi has changed. It carries traces of another man's yang essence. And last night… I sensed Madam Su's ice phoenix aura intertwined with the same signature. From your own peak."
Zhao Wuji's expression remained stone.
But his divine sense swept outward—probing the sect in an instant.
He found it.
The unmistakable resonance: pure moon yin, ice phoenix yin, and an extraordinarily potent heavenly yang—all braided together in perfect harmony.
And at the center: a young Core Formation cultivator whose name he barely recognized.
Xiao Yang.
Zhao Wuji's eyes narrowed to slits.
"An outer disciple?" he murmured, almost disbelieving.
Then fury ignited.
He turned to Zhao Tian.
"Summon the enforcement elders. Seal Jade Phoenix Peak. No one enters or leaves. Bring my wife to me."
Zhao Tian's lips curled in vicious satisfaction.
"As you command, Master."
Inside the cave mansion, the three lovers were still tangled in silk sheets when the alarms rang.
A deafening sect-wide siren echoed through the mountain—emergency lockdown.
Su Qingxue sat up first, silver hair falling across her bare shoulders.
"They know," she whispered.
Ling Xue'er clutched the sheet to her chest, eyes wide.
"Senior Brother Zhao… he must have sensed something."
Xiao Yang was already moving, pulling on robes.
"The formations are locking down. We have minutes before enforcement arrives."
Su Qingxue stood, naked and unashamed, aura flaring to middle Nascent Soul.
"I will not run like a criminal in my own home."
She turned to Ling Xue'er.
"Child, you still have a chance. Return to the guest pavilion. Deny everything. Zhao Tian will believe you if you cry convincingly."
Ling Xue'er shook her head fiercely.
"No. I'm done hiding. I chose this. I choose you both."
She stepped forward, taking Su Qingxue's hand.
"We face it together."
Xiao Yang felt something unbreakable settle in his chest.
The system chimed—almost mockingly.
He silenced it.
No more games.
He took both women's hands.
"Then we stand together. Now."
The cave doors exploded inward.
Zhao Wuji stood at the threshold, aura like a burning mountain, flanked by five Core Formation enforcement elders and Zhao Tian.
His eyes locked on Su Qingxue—first with disbelief, then heartbreak, then cold fury.
"Qingxue… what have you done?"
She stepped forward, chin high, body still marked with faint love bites and the glow of triple cultivation.
"I have loved you for three hundred years, Wuji. I sacrificed everything for your breakthrough. And you repaid me with endless seclusion."
Her voice cracked.
"I found warmth elsewhere. I found love that sees me. And I will not apologize for it."
Zhao Wuji's face twisted.
"You… with him? An outer disciple?"
His gaze shifted to Xiao Yang.
"You dare defile my wife?"
Xiao Yang met his eyes steadily.
"I love her. And she loves me. That is no defilement."
Zhao Tian snarled, drawing his sword.
"And Xue'er? You stole my fiancée too?"
Ling Xue'er stepped beside Xiao Yang, hand in his.
"I gave myself to him willingly. I still love you, Senior Brother… but not the way I love him."
Zhao Tian's sword trembled with rage.
"You whore—"
The word never finished.
Xiao Yang's aura exploded—middle Nascent Soul, peak-grade Heavenly Yang Essence surging like a golden sun.
The enforcement elders staggered back.
Zhao Wuji's eyes widened.
"Nascent Soul… how?"
Xiao Yang's voice was calm.
"The heavens rewarded me for taking what you neglected."
Zhao Wuji raised his hand.
A massive flame palm descended—enough to crush mountains.
But Su Qingxue moved first.
Ice phoenix wings of pure yin essence unfurled behind her.
She met the flame with a wall of frozen starlight.
The collision shook the entire peak.
Ling Xue'er joined her—moonlight yin forming a protective barrier around Xiao Yang.
Three auras united in perfect defense.
The flame palm shattered against their combined yin.
Zhao Wuji staggered back a step.
"You… all three?"
Xiao Yang stepped forward.
"We are bound. Heart, body, dao. Harm one, and you harm us all."
Zhao Wuji's face was a mask of anguish and rage.
"You have betrayed the sect. The heavens. Me."
He raised his hand again—for the killing blow.
But Su Qingxue's voice cut through like ice.
"Wuji… look at me."
He hesitated.
She stepped closer, tears streaming.
"I still love you. Part of me always will. But I will not live in the shadow of your ambition anymore. If you kill us… kill the woman who stood by you for three centuries."
Zhao Wuji's hand trembled.
The flame flickered.
Zhao Tian screamed.
"Master! They must die!"
But Zhao Wuji lowered his hand.
His voice was hoarse.
"Leave."
The elders stared in shock.
"Master?"
"I said leave!" he roared.
They retreated.
Zhao Wuji looked at Su Qingxue one last time—eyes filled with pain.
"You were my phoenix. Now you burn for another."
He turned to Xiao Yang.
"Take them and go. But know this: the sect will hunt you. The heavens will punish you. And one day… I will come for what remains of my heart."
He vanished into the seclusion chamber.
The doors sealed.
The three lovers stood in stunned silence.
Then Su Qingxue collapsed into Xiao Yang's arms, sobbing.
Ling Xue'er joined them, holding them both.
They had survived.
For now.
But the sect's wrath was coming.
And Zhao Wuji's words echoed like prophecy.
The hunt had become a war.