From the fake emperor to the concubine

"You're dreaming!" Zheng Yi gritted his teeth.

"Dreaming?" Ning Zhiyuan sneered. "Then I'll show you the price of disobedience. Elder Wang, teach her a lesson!"

"Yes, young master." The cultivator holding Xiaoyue grinned maliciously, tightening his grip on the spiritual energy.

Xiaoyue immediately felt a wave of suffocation, her face turned bright red, and tears streamed down her face. She struggled painfully, waving her little hands wildly, but to no avail.

"Stop!" Zheng Yi roared.

“Kneel down, and I’ll make him stop,” Ning Zhiyuan said smugly.

Zheng Yi gritted his teeth. He had never been so furious. If it weren't for Xiaoyue's safety, he would have already rushed up and torn Ning Zhiyuan to pieces.

But now that Xiaoyue is in their hands, he dares not make any rash moves.

Just as he was hesitating, an accident occurred.

In her struggle, Xiaoyue accidentally bit the cultivator's hand. Although she was just a mortal and couldn't break the cultivator's skin, this action thoroughly enraged him.

"Damn you little bastard!" the cultivator roared in fury, his spiritual power exploding violently. "You dare bite me? Die!"

"Wait—" Ning Zhiyuan tried to stop him, but it was too late.

The cultivator unleashed a palm strike, the violent spiritual energy slamming into Xiaoyue's chest.

puff--

Xiaoyue coughed up a mouthful of blood, her small body flying out like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground. Her chest caved in, countless ribs were broken, and blood continued to gush from her mouth and nose.

"Xiaoyue!"

Zheng Yi, Liu Ruyan, Zheng Bowen, and others exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

Xiaoyue lay on the ground, the white jade beneath her quickly stained red with blood. Her eyes were slightly open, looking in Zheng Yi's direction, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Those once clear and bright eyes are slowly losing their luster.

"What...what did you do?!" Ning Zhiyuan was also stunned. He only wanted to use Xiaoyue to threaten Zheng Yi, and never intended to really hurt her. He never expected his subordinate to be so ruthless.

The cultivator was also stunned. He had acted impulsively and never expected the consequences to be so severe. How could a mortal's body withstand the full force of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator?
"I...I didn't mean to," he murmured.

But Zheng Yi wouldn't listen to a word of what he was saying.

Zheng Yi's heart broke the moment he saw Xiaoyue lying in a pool of blood.

The little girl who always timidly tugged at his clothes.
That well-behaved and sensible little girl who never caused trouble
The little girl who would only go to sleep after hearing a story from him every night.
He now lies on the cold ground, his fate unknown.

“Xiaoyue.” Zheng Yi walked toward Xiaoyue, trembling.

He walked slowly, and with each step, the temperature around him dropped a degree. Eventually, the temperature in the entire hall had dropped to freezing point, and frost even began to form on the ground.

This is not the power of ice, but the intent to kill.

The terrifying killing intent emanating from Zheng Yi made everyone's hearts tremble. Even Bai Changkong couldn't help but shiver.

Zheng Yi walked to Xiaoyue's side and gently picked her up. The little girl's body was already cold, and blood stained her clothes and Zheng Yi's hands.

"Big brother," Xiaoyue said softly, struggling to open her eyes, "Xiaoyue...it hurts."

"I know, I know," Zheng Yi's voice trembled. "Don't be afraid, everything will be alright. I'll treat your wounds right away."

He quickly took out healing pills from his storage bag and fed them to Xiaoyue. At the same time, he activated his spiritual power to stabilize her injuries.

But it didn't work.

Xiaoyue's injuries were too severe. Almost all of her internal organs were shattered, more than a dozen bones were broken, and her life was rapidly slipping away. Even the most potent healing medicine could not save her.

Moreover, she was just a mortal.

"Big brother, don't be sad," Xiaoyue said weakly. "Xiaoyue...it doesn't hurt anymore. Xiaoyue wants to sleep."

"Don't sleep!" Zheng Yi cried, tears streaming down his face. "Xiaoyue, you can't sleep! You promised me that when you grew up you would protect others like me. You haven't fulfilled your promise yet, you can't sleep!"

"Yes, Xiaoyue remembers," Xiaoyue forced a smile, "Big brother, you are the best person. I'm so happy to have met you."

Her voice grew softer and softer, and her eyes slowly closed.

"Xiaoyue? Xiaoyue!" Zheng Yi shook her. "Wake up! Don't sleep!"

But Xiaoyue never responded again.

Her small body gradually lost warmth in Zheng Yi's arms, and her life was completely extinguished.

That innocent little girl
The little girl who always sweetly called him "big brother".
And that's how he died.

Zheng Yi stood frozen in place, holding Xiaoyue's body, motionless.

Liu Ruyan ran over crying, and when she saw Xiaoyue's condition, tears streamed down her face: "Xiaoyue... Xiaoyue!"

Zheng Bowen, Zheng Hongzhi, and Xiao Tianxing all fell silent. Although they hadn't spent much time with Xiaoyue, they had grown fond of this well-behaved child. Now, seeing her die like this, they were all filled with endless grief and anger.

The entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

Only Zheng Yi's deep voice rang out:
"Who...who did it?"

His voice was very soft, so soft that it was almost inaudible.

But everyone heard it clearly.

Because the killing intent contained in that voice was extremely intense.

The cultivator who had injured Xiaoyue turned deathly pale, his body trembling uncontrollably. He tried to escape, but his legs felt like lead, and he couldn't move them at all.

"Young Master, save me!" he said in a trembling voice.

Ning Zhiyuan also felt an unprecedented fear. He knew he had made a terrible mistake.

“Fellow Daoist Zheng, this is a misunderstanding. We really didn’t mean it,” he tried to explain.

"A misunderstanding?" Zheng Yi slowly raised his head, his eyes now bloodshot. "You used her to threaten me, that's a misunderstanding. Your men severely injured her, that's a misunderstanding. She died in my arms, that's also a misunderstanding?"

He said, word by word, "Ning Zhiyuan, you will all die."

As soon as he finished speaking, a terrifying pressure erupted from Zheng Yi.

This is not the pressure of the mid-stage Fusion Realm, but rather the pressure approaching the late-stage Fusion Realm!

It turned out that Zheng Yi had been suppressing his cultivation level. His true realm was already infinitely close to the late stage of the Integration Realm. But now, under extreme anger, his potential had been completely unleashed.

Bai Changkong's expression changed drastically: "Not good! Retreat quickly!"

But it's too late.

Zheng Yi gently placed Xiaoyue's body on the ground, then stood up. He drew his longsword, its blade gleaming with an eerie, blood-red light.

"Space-time annihilation."

He whispered four words.

In an instant, spacetime began to collapse around him. The cultivator who had injured Xiaoyue didn't even have time to scream before his body was reduced to dust by the power of spacetime, completely disappearing from this world.

"Ah—" The other Ning family cultivators were terrified and turned to run away. But how could Zheng Yi let them escape?

He flashed and instantly appeared in front of a cultivator, slashing out with his sword. The cultivator raised his sword to block, but his sword and he himself were cut in two.

Blood splattered.

Zheng Yi didn't stop; his figure moved through the crowd like the Grim Reaper. Wherever he went, a cultivator fell. His sword was incredibly fast, giving his opponents no chance to react.

In just over ten breaths, only three of the Ning family's dozen or so cultivators remained alive.

"Help! Young Master, save us!" the remaining cultivators cried out in terror.

Ning Zhiyuan was also terrified. He finally realized just how terrifying the being he had provoked was. This person was simply beyond his ability to deal with.

"Old Bai, please save me!" he cried out to Bai Changkong for help.

Bai Changkong gritted his teeth. Although he was unwilling to get involved in this struggle, he had received benefits from the Ning family and could not stand by and watch them die.

"Fellow Daoist Zheng, please calm down!" Bai Changkong made his move, summoning a defensive magic treasure to block Ning Zhiyuan's path.

But Zheng Yi didn't even glance at the magic weapon.

He unleashed a sword strike, its dazzling light containing terrifying spatial and temporal power. The defensive magic artifact was as fragile as paper before the sword light, instantly cleaved in two.

"What?!" Bai Changkong was shocked. That was his natal magic weapon, and it was actually shattered by a single sword strike?

"Get out of my way," Zheng Yi said coldly. "My target is Ning Zhiyuan. If you want to protect him, then die with him."

Seeing the murderous intent in Zheng Yi's eyes, Bai Changkong finally understood. This man truly intended to kill. Moreover, given the strength he had displayed, he probably really could.

He hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed and stepped aside.

"Young Master Ning, I have done my best. Take care."

"Old Bai! How...how could you...?" Ning Zhiyuan couldn't believe that Bai Changkong had actually abandoned him.

But Bai Changkong didn't respond; he simply closed his eyes. It wasn't that he was afraid of death, but rather that he didn't want to die for someone who wasn't worth saving.

Ning Zhiyuan then realized that he was really going to die today.

"Zheng Yi, Fellow Daoist Zheng, I was wrong," he said, trembling. "I truly know I was wrong, please spare my life. I swear, I will never trouble you again."

"It's too late," Zheng Yi said coldly. "You shouldn't have provoked me. And you certainly shouldn't have hurt her."

He walked towards Ning Zhiyuan step by step, each step landing on Ning Zhiyuan's heart.

"No, no!" Ning Zhiyuan wanted to run away, but his legs were weak and he couldn't run at all.

Zheng Yi walked up to him and raised his longsword high.

"Wait!" Ning Zhiyuan suddenly shouted, "If you kill me, my father will not let you get away with it! He is a mid-stage Integration Realm expert, and the Ning family has a huge influence in the Xuan Tian Domain. If you kill me, you will be making an enemy of the entire Ning family!"

"Is that so?" Zheng Yi said calmly. "Then let him come. I want to see how many people in your Ning family I have to kill."

"You...you're insane!" Ning Zhiyuan shouted in terror.

“I’m not crazy,” Zheng Yi said. “I’m just avenging Xiaoyue.”

The sword falls.

Ning Zhiyuan stared wide-eyed, wanting to say something, but his throat had already been pierced by the sword, and he could no longer make a sound.

Zheng Yi drew his sword, and Ning Zhiyuan's body slumped to the ground, blood flowing everywhere.

The Ning family's pride and joy, the fifth strongest on the Prodigy Ranking, died just like that.

Zheng Yi sheathed his sword and turned to walk towards Xiaoyue's body. He gently picked her up, his movements so tender as if he were afraid of hurting her.

“Xiaoyue, let’s go home,” he said softly.

Liu Ruyan watched Zheng Yi's retreating figure, tears streaming down her face. She could feel the pain in Zheng Yi's heart.

Zheng Bowen and the others followed silently, without saying a word.

Bai Changkong looked at the corpses scattered on the ground and sighed. He knew that the Xuan Tian Domain was about to change. The young master of the Ning family was dead, and a bloody storm was bound to follow.

But he also knew that Ning Zhiyuan had brought all of this upon himself. If he hadn't been so stubborn and insisted on using Xiaoyue to threaten Zheng Yi, things wouldn't have escalated to this point.

"What a pity," Bai Changkong murmured. "What a pity for this little girl."

Zheng Yi carried Xiaoyue out of the palace.

The sky outside was still overcast, with no sun, moon, or stars in sight. But in Zheng Yi's heart, the whole world had already darkened.

The little girl who always smiled sweetly and called him "big brother" will never wake up again.

"I'm sorry," Zheng Yi said softly, tears falling onto Xiaoyue's face. "I failed to protect you. I'm sorry."

He vowed to make the Ning family pay the price.

Blood debts must be repaid in blood.

Zheng Yi carried Xiaoyue's body out of the ruins.

Throughout the entire process, he didn't utter a single word, simply moving forward in silence. But everyone following behind him could sense the sorrow and murderous intent emanating from him.

It was a suffocating sense of oppression.

Liu Ruyan followed behind, her eyes red. She was filled with grief and self-reproach. If she had been stronger then, if she had been able to hold off those Ning family cultivators, Xiaoyue wouldn't have died.

"It's all my fault," she choked out. "If only I could have protected Xiaoyue..."

“It’s not your fault,” Zheng Yi finally spoke, his voice hoarse. “It’s my fault. I didn’t kill Ning Zhiyuan in time, giving him the opportunity to continue his evil deeds.”

He looked down at Xiaoyue in his arms; her tender little face had lost all color, but she still maintained her last smile.

“I will make the Ning family pay the price,” Zheng Yi said in a low voice. “A blood debt must be repaid in blood.”

The group left the ruins and returned to the wilderness.

Zheng Yi found a beautiful spot with a clear stream and blooming wildflowers. He dug a grave himself and buried Xiaoyue there.

“Xiaoyue, you said you wanted to see the outside world,” Zheng Yi said softly, squatting in front of the grave. “Here, there’s flowing water, flowers, and you can see the sky. You should like it.”

He took out the pastries and toys he had bought for Xiaoyue from his storage bag and placed them one by one in front of the grave.

"These are all for you. If you get hungry, have some pastries. If you get bored, play with these toys."

His voice choked up as he said this.

"Big brother has to do something and might be away for a while. But don't be afraid, it's safe here. Big brother will come back to be with you when he's done."

He stood up and bowed deeply.

Liu Ruyan, Zheng Bowen, and others also knelt down to see Xiaoyue off.

"Xiaoyue, may you rest in peace."

"In my next life, I don't want to encounter these bad people again." (End of Chapter)