The morning light filtering through the translucent jade walls was soft, but to Ye Qingyu, it felt like a spotlight of shame.
She woke up sprawled on the Warm Spirit Jade bed. The sheets were a chaotic mess, stained with sweat and the undeniable, musky fluids of their night together.
She was sore. Her inner thighs ached with a phantom heat, and her most sensitive spot—her clitoris—throbbed with a lingering, over-sensitive pulse every time her legs shifted.
She turned her head.
Li Ye was already awake. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, half-dressed in the loose white robe she had thrown at him yesterday. He was watching her.
"Good morning, Empress," Li Ye said, his voice raspy with sleep and satisfaction.
Ye Qingyu pulled the silk sheet up to her chin, her face burning. The memories of the previous night—her screaming, her legs wrapped around his head, the way she had begged him not to stop—crashed into her mind.
"Get out," she whispered.
"Is that how you treat your doctor?" Li Ye smirked. He reached out and tucked a stray lock of silver hair behind her ear.
Ye Qingyu flinched, but she didn't pull away. She couldn't. His touch, which should have been revolting to her high-born sensibilities, now sparked a treacherous jolt of arousal in her lower belly.
"The treatment... is finished," she said, trying to summon her icy demeanor. It failed. Her voice was too breathy. "My liver... it feels clear."
"It is," Li Ye said. "But the poison accumulates. I'll need to administer another dose in three days."
"Three days..." Ye Qingyu closed her eyes. She was trapped. "Fine. But until then... do not speak of this. To anyone. If you utter a word about what happened on this bed, I will tear your tongue out."
"My lips are sealed," Li Ye grinned, his eyes dropping to her chest hidden by the sheet. "Unless they're busy doing other things."
Ye Qingyu grabbed a jade pillow and threw it at him.
"OUT! Get out of my sanctum!"
Li Ye caught the pillow easily. He stood up, bowing dramatically.
"Your wish is my command. But I need resources, Empress. I can't cure you if I'm weak."
Ye Qingyu waved a hand dismissively, desperate to be alone to wash the scent of him off her skin.
"Take this." She threw a token made of blue ice at him. "It grants access to the Frost Scripture Pavilion and the Inner Sect Armory. Take whatever trash you want. Just leave me be!"
Li Ye caught the token. It was cold, heavy, and radiated power.
"Thank you for the meal," Li Ye said softly.
He turned and walked out of the bedroom. As the heavy stone doors sealed shut behind him, he heard the sound of water splashing—Ye Qingyu rushing to the bath to scrub herself raw.
Li Ye inhaled the token. It smelled like her.
"Step one complete," he murmured.
The Collision of Fates
Li Ye walked through the corridors of the Ice Palace. The servants—pale, silent maids—bowed low as he passed. They didn't know who he was, but they saw him emerging from the Empress's private quarters at dawn. That was enough to command fear.
He felt incredible.
[SYSTEM STATUS] [CULTIVATION: BODY TEMPERING LAYER 8 (EARLY STAGE)] [ESSENCE ABSORBED: PURE YIN (CORE FORMATION GRADE)] [BODY CONDITION: PEAK.]
The night of "healing" had pushed him straight through the bottleneck of Layer 7. He was now nearing the peak of mortal strength.
He walked out into the main courtyard. The air was crisp and cold.
In the center of the courtyard, surrounded by blooming ice-lotuses, a figure was dancing with a sword.
It was a beautiful, melancholic dance. The sword moved like a ribbon of blue light, freezing the moisture in the air into glittering dust.
Li Ye stopped and leaned against a pillar.
[TARGET DETECTED: HAN RUOXUE] [RELATIONSHIP: HOSTILE / TRAUMATIZED] [CULTIVATION: BODY TEMPERING LAYER 7 (RECOVERED FROM LAYER 6)]
Han Ruoxue.
She looked different from the arrogance of the woodshed. She was thinner. Her eyes were shadowed. The encounter with Li Ye—the plunder, the humiliation—had left a mark on her Dao Heart. She was training desperately, fueled by hatred.
She finished a complex form, thrusting the sword forward.
"Your stance is wide," Li Ye called out. "And your grip is too tight. You're fighting fear, not an enemy."
Han Ruoxue froze.
That voice. The voice from her nightmares.
She spun around. When she saw Li Ye leaning casually against the pillar, wearing the inner robes of the Palace, her face went white as a sheet.
"You..." She whispered. The sword in her hand trembled. "How... why are you here?"
"I live here now," Li Ye said, walking down the steps into the courtyard.
"Liar!" Han Ruoxue screamed. "This is the Ice Palace! My Master's domain! No man is allowed here! Especially not a filth like you!"
She raised her sword. "You escaped the dungeon? You broke in? I'll kill you! I'll cut your head off and redeem my honor!"
She charged.
It was the same attack she had used in the woodshed, but sharper, faster. [Glacial Pierce].
Li Ye didn't draw his sword. He didn't even use the Phantom Step.
He just waited.
When the tip of her blade was inches from his chest, he stepped to the side.
He reached out and grabbed the blade. Not the hilt. The blade.
His hand was coated in a layer of Frost Qi so dense it acted like a gauntlet.
CLANG.
He stopped her sword with his bare hand.
Han Ruoxue's eyes bulged. She pushed, putting all her Layer 7 strength into it. He didn't budge. He stood there like a mountain.
"You've recovered your cultivation," Li Ye noted, inspecting her straining face. "Your grandfather must have given you some good pills."
"Let go!" She screamed, trying to pull the sword back.
"You still don't get it, Ruoxue," Li Ye sighed.
He twisted his wrist.
SNAP.
The steel blade shattered.
Han Ruoxue stumbled back, holding the broken hilt. She looked at the shards on the ground, then at Li Ye.
"Layer... Layer 8?" She gasped. "Impossible. You were trash... you were just..."
"I was just the man who put you on your knees in a shed," Li Ye finished for her. He stepped closer.
Han Ruoxue backed away until her back hit the stone railing of the lotus pond.
"Stay away!" She held the broken hilt like a dagger. Tears welled in her eyes. "My Master is here! Elder Ye is inside! If you touch me, she will sense it! She will kill you!"
Li Ye stopped in front of her. He loomed over her, blocking the sun.
"Your Master?" Li Ye chuckled darkly. "You think she'll save you?"
He leaned in close. He invaded her personal space, pressing his chest against hers.
"Smell me, Ruoxue."
Han Ruoxue blinked, confused. But she couldn't help it. She inhaled.
Her eyes went wide.
She knew the scent. It was unique. Snow Lotus, Ancient Ink, and Cold Jade.
It was Ye Qingyu's scent.
But it was mixed with the scent of sweat and musk. The scent of a bedroom.
"You..." Han Ruoxue's voice shook. "Why do you smell like... like her bed?"
"Because I was in it," Li Ye whispered, striking the killing blow to her psyche. "All night."
Han Ruoxue's world shattered. Her goddess. Her Master. The untouched Ice Empress.
"No..." She shook her head violently. "You're lying! She would never! She hates men! She..."
"She didn't seem to hate me when she was screaming my name," Li Ye lied—well, exaggerated. "She has a mole on her inner left thigh. Shaped like a crescent moon. Did you know that?"
Han Ruoxue dropped the broken hilt. She knew. She had seen it in the baths.
It was true.
Her legs gave out. She slid down the railing, collapsing onto the cold stone. The image of her pristine Master being defiled by this... this animal... it broke something inside her.
"Why?" she sobbed, looking up at him with utter despair. "Why are you doing this?"
Li Ye crouched down. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"Because I want everything, Ruoxue," he said. "The Master. The Disciple. The Sect."
He brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
"And now that I have the Master... you are nothing but a servant."
He stood up.
"Clean this up," he gestured to the broken sword shards. "Then go to the library. I need a guide."
He turned and walked away, leaving her weeping in the snow.
Han Ruoxue watched him go. Hate burned in her chest, hot and violent. But mixed with the hate was a terrifying realization.
If her Master had submitted... what hope did she have?
The Frost Scripture Pavilion
The library was a tower of blue ice. Inside, thousands of scrolls floated in suspended animation within pillars of cold light.
Li Ye walked in, flashing Ye Qingyu's token. The barrier dissolved.
He wasn't here to read about history. He was here for Techniques.
The System scanned the shelves rapidly.
[SCANNING...] [DETECTED: 'FROST ARMOR' (EARTH GRADE)] [DETECTED: 'ICICLE RAIN' (EARTH GRADE)] [DETECTED: 'YIN-YANG DUAL CULTIVATION MANUAL' (ANCIENT/FORBIDDEN)]
Li Ye stopped.
He walked to the back of the library, to a dusty, sealed section marked "HERETICAL ARTS."
He used the token. The seal hissed and broke.
He pulled out a black scroll made of human skin.
[MANUAL: THE ART OF THE DEVOURING YIN DRAGON] [TYPE: DUAL CULTIVATION / PLUNDER] [DESCRIPTION: A TECHNIQUE CREATED BY AN ANCIENT DEMONIC EMPEROR. IT ALLOWS THE MALE TO HARVEST YIN QI NOT JUST FOR HEALING, BUT TO PERMANENTLY STEAL THE TALENT AND PHYSIQUE OF THE FEMALE.] [SIDE EFFECT: THE FEMALE BECOMES ADDICTED TO THE MALE'S YANG QI.]
Li Ye's eyes lit up.
This was it. The Celestial Plunder System was a blunt instrument—it just took energy. This technique... this was a surgical knife. It would allow him to refine the energy, to steal Special Physiques.
Like Han Ruoxue's Ice Body. Like Lin Xiaoyue's Wind Body.
"Learn," Li Ye commanded.
The scroll dissolved into black light and shot into his forehead.
Knowledge flooded his brain. Diagrams of positions, meridian flows, and the art of sexual conquest.
He stood there, digesting the information.
Footsteps echoed behind him.
"You found the forbidden section."
Li Ye turned.
Han Ruoxue stood there. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she had stopped crying. She held a new sword in her hand, though she wasn't pointing it at him. She looked defeated, but wary.
"You told me to come," she said dully. "Master... Master sent a message. She said I am to assist you."
"Good," Li Ye said. He rolled up the empty skin of the scroll.
He walked over to her. The knowledge of the Devouring Yin Dragon was fresh in his mind. He looked at her differently now. He didn't just see a girl; he saw a vessel of Ice Talent waiting to be drained.
"Assist me?" Li Ye smiled. "Then lock the door, Ruoxue."
Han Ruoxue blinked. "What?"
"I need to test a new technique," Li Ye said, stepping closer. "And since your Master is resting... you'll have to do."
"No!" She stepped back, gripping her sword. "I won't let you!"
"You have a choice," Li Ye said calmly. "Resist, and I tell your Master you attacked me. She will expel you. You lose your status, your family dies of shame, and you end up as a concubine for some fat merchant."
He took another step.
"Or... you submit. You help me cultivate. And in return, I give you power."
"Power?" She scoffed, trembling.
"I fixed your Master's liver," Li Ye revealed. "I can fix your stagnation. I can make you stronger than Wang Teng ever was."
He extended his hand.
"Hate me all you want, Ruoxue. But do you want to be weak? Or do you want to be a Queen?"
Han Ruoxue looked at his hand. She hated him. She loathed him. But she craved strength. She had been humiliated too many times.
Slowly, shaking like a leaf, she reached out.
She took his hand.
Li Ye pulled her in. He didn't kiss her. He leaned down and whispered in her ear.
"Good girl. Now... on your knees."