Hell Emperor.

Chapter 595 Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden
"cough……"

As the treasure box shattered, boundless radiance, now unrestrained, washed over Ye Jie's entire body.

Not only him, but Xia Wei, who was always enveloped by the power of the treasure box, and many of her companions gathered around her also suffered a strong backlash when the treasure box shattered, and their bodies were exposed to a radiance intertwined with moonlight and purple energy.

Every divine artifact is born from the creation of heaven and earth, containing unimaginable power. Once it is broken, especially in a fierce battle, if the power gathered within cannot be released in time, it will trigger unimaginable backlash.

Fortunately, what Ye Jie was worried about did not happen. Although the Moonlight Box was broken, the power contained within was completely harmless to everyone and far from being fatal. Immersed in the pleasant moonlight, everyone felt a warm and cozy feeling. However, when the light subsided, everyone felt quite uncomfortable.

When the treasure box shattered, the Taiyin Star Lord, who had exerted all his strength to activate it, suffered an unimaginable backlash. His aura plummeted, and he was far from the saintly majesty that had previously made Ye Jie's heart tremble. As if he had lost his power, he was kneeling on the ground, breathing and regulating his breath.

Seeing this, Ye Jie couldn't care less about the Moon Goddess; what he was most worried about was Xia Wei's condition.

When the treasure box shattered, Xia Wei was at the source of the power of the first-grade divine artifact. If anything happened to her, she would suffer the most severe backlash, which made Ye Jie quite worried.

"Xiao Wei, are you alright?"

Ye Jie quickly approached Xia Wei and asked her with concern.

Xia Wei remained silent, only looking at him with her pure, starry eyes, her expression calm and undisturbed, as if the person standing in front of her was not her master with whom she had overcome countless difficulties and trusted each other, but a complete stranger.

"I've been searching for you all this time, I miss you so much... Now that there are no more obstacles, let's leave this place together!"

Ye Jie was filled with emotion. After overcoming numerous difficulties and defeating countless powerful enemies, he finally reunited with Xia Wei in this Taiyin land. Fortunately, it was all worth it. Seeing that his disciple was safe and sound, he was relieved.

Longing has turned into an inescapable and heavy bond. He wondered what hardships Xia Wei had endured and what mistakes she had made during this time. Thinking of this, Ye Jie could no longer suppress the longing in his heart and embraced Xia Wei without saying a word.

This time, Xia Wei's expression changed noticeably. Her eyebrows furrowed in surprise and anger at being offended. She then raised a finger and pointed the tip at Ye Jie's chest.

"Three lives..."

"what?"

Ye Jie was slightly taken aback, seemingly not having heard Xia Wei's words clearly.

"careful!"

"Get out of the way!"

Just then, he heard his companions' panicked warnings, but it was too late.

"...Soul Destruction Tribulation".

Finally hearing Xia Wei's whisper clearly, Ye Jie sensed something was wrong. Along with the whisper, a dazzling arc of electricity erupted from her fingertips, its magnificent divine power soaring to the heavens, even extinguishing the stars.

At such a short distance, Ye Jie had no way to avoid it and was hit head-on by the full force of the supreme lightning technique!

In a daze, various images were flashing through Ye Jie's mind.

Despite being right in the center of the thunderous attack, Ye Jie remained remarkably calm, like a stranger observing the unfolding scenes of human life. Compared to the thunder and lightning, he seemed detached from the chaos.

In the unfamiliar surroundings, Ye Jie saw a dog, a big yellow dog.

The yellow dog diligently guarded the house, chasing away sneaky figures at night and confronting the wolves lurking outside the sheepfold. It ate the leftovers that its owner didn't want and never knew the taste of meat.

The family has a son who is very close to the yellow dog. The boy would secretly feed the dog the best food that the family wouldn't eat themselves.

One year, a severe drought caused widespread famine, so the owner killed and ate the yellow dog.

The boy cried for a long time on the day the yellow dog died.

Ye Jie saw another cicada.

Cicadas suck sap from roots underground, not seeing a ray of sunlight for countless years, shedding their skin layer by layer, until finally they become adults.

It was a hot summer day. On the first day the sun shone, the cicadas released all the pent-up frustrations buried underground for over a decade, letting out their life-giving cries. More cicadas on the trees responded to them, encouraging them and making their cries even louder, as if they wanted to merge their lives into the music.

The good times didn't last long; when summer ended, the cicadas died.

Ye Jie saw another person, or more precisely, a baby girl.

The baby girl had just been born and had never experienced the beauty of life. The only thing she could feel was endless cold. The biting chill enveloped her body, and the water completely submerged her. Her breathing became weaker and weaker. Every gasp and struggle was done with all her might, but it was all in vain.

Ultimately, the baby girl was drowned in the river by her mother.

Various memories that did not belong to Ye Jie flowed rapidly through his mind, yet he felt as if he were there, experiencing all the joys and sorrows, as if he had personally gone through them.

Under the bombardment of the Three Lives Soul Destruction Tribulation, all sorts of memories and past events spread deep within Ye Jie's soul. These were indeed things he had personally experienced, but not in this life, but in his previous life, his life before that, and his life before that.

Past dreams flashed before his eyes one by one. The Tribulation of Soul Annihilation of the Three Lives was not meant to kill Ye Jie himself, but rather his three previous lives. If any one of his lives could not withstand the power of the Tribulation of Soul Annihilation, Ye Jie in this life would also be destroyed along with it.

"Oops……"

In the distance, Li Feie's face was filled with horror. As someone who cultivated the path of thunder, how could she not know the power of the Three Lives Soul Destruction Tribulation? This move was the supreme technique of the thunder element, which, according to legend, could only be performed by the Xuan Nu herself.

To withstand the Tribulation of Three Lifetimes of Soul Destruction, one's cultivation in this life is utterly useless. The outcome of this move was already predetermined in the previous three lifetimes, and no matter how high one's cultivation is in this life, it will be of no use.

At the heart of the Soul-Destroying Tribulation's attack, Ye Jie sensed its terrifying power. How could he possibly withstand this Soul-Destroying Tribulation, which even a saint couldn't withstand, using the yellow dog, the cicada, and the baby girl? His ultimate fate was probably already sealed.

Ye Jie didn't know what changes had occurred in Xia Wei, or why she would try to kill him, but one thing he did know was that he was doomed. Boom!
With a deafening roar that shook the heavens, the Soul-Destroying Calamity descended completely. The spot where Ye Jie had stood was now just a bottomless pit. Xia Wei stood in mid-air, her eyes indifferent, though a hint of anger still lingered deep within.

Seeing this, the companions all looked on in despair, and their eyes were filled with fear as they looked at Xia Wei. No one could survive that move, not even a saint. Without a doubt, it was a power far beyond the realm of a saint!
“Ignorant fool... How dare you offend the Supreme Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden who transcends the Three Realms? Only the annihilation of your soul will be your final fate.”

In the distance, the Moon Goddess finished her meditation, slowly rose, and looked at the smoke-filled pit, her eyes filled with mockery for the crowd's overestimation of their abilities.

"What?!……"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked on incredulously.

After dealing with Ye Jie, the Moon Goddess's gaze fell upon Ye Jie's other companions, and she spotted several familiar figures among them:
"And you, as the successors of the Mysterious Maiden, actually disobeyed the ancestral master's orders and mingled with these rebellious bastards. It seems that you won't learn your lesson unless you are punished!"

"Who are you calling a rebellious person against Heaven?"

Just then, a detached voice interrupted the Moon Goddess's words, causing her expression to change slightly.

Following the sound, they saw a figure slowly emerge from the smoke and dust; it was Ye Jie, who should have perished completely under the Three Lives Soul Destruction Tribulation.

Seeing that Ye Jie was safe and sound, Li Feie, disregarding the Taiyin Xingjun's unpleasant expression, subconsciously patted her chest: "That's great..."

Shen Qingge felt relieved: "It's good that A-Jie is alright. I knew he wouldn't fall down so easily."

"This is impossible... With your cultivation level, how could you possibly withstand the Three Lives Soul Destruction Tribulation? You should have been annihilated!"

The Moon Goddess's expression remained unchanged. Even with her excellent self-control, she couldn't accept the reality before her for a moment. How could anyone withstand the Three Lives Soul Destruction Tribulation? In the past, countless ferocious demons had perished under that move, including many stronger than Ye Jie. So why was Ye Jie able to withstand it?

For a moment, the Taiyin Star Lord even had an absurd thought: Could it be that Ye Jie's three previous lives were all Nine-Turn Immortals comparable to the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden? Only in this way could he withstand the power of the Soul-Destroying Tribulation.

Ye Jie did not answer, but deep down he still felt a lingering fear.

In his three previous lives, he was an insignificant being in the human world. He could not possibly be the supreme immortal that the Moon Goddess imagined, or even a cultivator.

Under the onslaught of the Soul-Destroying Tribulation, his life-saving methods completely failed. Spending money to avert disaster could only destroy the wealth of this life, not the wealth of the past. Just when Ye Jie thought he was doomed, a certain celestial official power that he had always ignored came into play, thus saving his life.

That was the power of the Thunder Drum Warrior, a celestial official position at the peak of the second rank. Logically speaking, such a low-ranking celestial official position should have been ignored long ago as Ye Jie continued to advance. But it was precisely the power of the Thunder Drum Warrior that saved Ye Jie's life.

The power of the Thunder Drum Warrior allows Ye Jie to completely ignore the effects of a lightning-based spell the first time he is hit in a battle!

Even the Three Lives Soul Destruction Tribulation met the prerequisites of a lightning-based technique, thus causing no harm to Ye Jie.

Ye Jie had always thought this effect was useless and unlikely to work, but it was precisely in this life-or-death situation that it saved his life!

"so close……"

If it weren't for the power of the authority that saved Ye Jie's life, he would likely have faced certain death under the Soul Extinction Tribulation.

Before Ye Jie could even revel in his joy at surviving the ordeal, he heard his companions' reminders coming from afar.

Li Feie warned loudly, "Be careful, she's not Xia Wei, she's... she's..."

"Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden!"

Ye Jie also realized the identity of the person in front of him. Although they looked 90% similar, the person in front of him was definitely not Xia Wei from his memory. The arrogance that seemed to surpass heaven and earth, and the coldness that resembled a desolate star, were completely different from the Xia Wei in his memory.

Under heaven, only the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden possesses such an aura of dominance over all ages, and anyone who disrespects her will suffer severe lightning punishment.

"It failed again... How could this happen..."

Realizing that Xia Wei had completely disappeared and that only the Xuan Nu herself had taken her place, Ye Jie felt an immense sense of loss. He never expected that after all his efforts, he would still end up like this.

A cool whisper beside his ear broke Ye Jie's reverie:
“You junior, you have offended my cultivation and should have been reduced to ashes by the lightning. However, considering that you have no evil deeds in your three previous lives and that you have the opportunity to withstand the soul-destroying tribulation, I will spare your life.”

Looking in the direction of the voice, it was Xuan Nu herself who spoke. Her tone was ethereal and elegant, without a trace of personal emotion, as if she were talking about something completely unrelated to herself.

Ye Jie's expression was solemn. He gazed at Xuan Nu's face, but his mind was filled with thoughts of another person. Memories of his time with Xia Wei flashed through his mind. The two of them had gone through countless hardships to get to where they were today, and he was unwilling to give up no matter what.

Even though the person in front of him was no longer Xia Wei from Ye Jie's memory, he had no intention of backing down. Even if it meant risking his life and sacrificing his soul, he would save Xia Wei.

"I don't know what the Moon Goddess did to you, but I will never give up, I will definitely save you!"

Ye Jie's resolute whisper made Xuan Nu frown slightly. She had never seen Ye Jie before, so why was he saying those things?
Ye Jie reached into his robes and pulled out the sewn-up pages. In the previous battle, all of his Yin virtue had been exhausted and used to avoid disaster by spending money. He needed to replenish it!

[By the mandate of Heaven, the Underworld Emperor decrees: In the summer of the 640th year of the Moro calendar, Ye Jie, the master of the Ziwei Palace, is hereby granted one hundred billion yin virtues. This is the imperial decree.]

With a flick of the brush, familiar words were once again written on the sewn pages. However, when the Ghost Seal fell, nothing changed. In Ye Jie's file, his Yin Virtue did not increase in the slightest.

"What's going on? Could it be that the power of the Ghost Seal has failed?"

This discovery surprised Ye Jie slightly. Ever since he learned to use the power of the Ghost Seal to modify his Yin virtue, this power had never disappeared and had helped him countless times. Why was it no longer working now?

In the distance, the Moon Goddess's aura returned to normal. She gathered the shattered fragments of the treasure box and stared at Ye Jie with a cold, sharp gaze:

"You're lucky this time; the Goddess Xuan doesn't want to pursue your offense. There's no one you're looking for here anymore. Before she changes her mind, you'd better leave as soon as possible. If you offend her again, you'll only face death!"

The whisper of the Moon Goddess struck Ye Jie's heart like a heavy hammer. Now that the nine stitched pages were gone and even the Ghost Seal was ineffective, what could he use to defeat the legendary Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden?

(End of this chapter)