Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

A sharp, piercing pain instantly swept through his entire body, causing Su Mu's face to turn deathly pale and his body to stiffen abruptly.

He slowly lowered his head in disbelief, only to see a sharp longsword piercing through his back and torso, the cold, blood-stained tip protruding from his chest, the crimson blood dripping and glaring.

A life-or-death crisis descended in an instant. Without thinking twice, Su Mu instinctively turned around and unleashed a powerful palm strike!

The powerful palm strike, imbued with immense spiritual energy, struck the attacker from behind with deadly force.

Bang!

A dull, loud bang suddenly exploded, and a slender figure was violently thrown dozens of meters away by the force, crashing heavily onto the cold floor tiles of the main hall.

Under the bright light of the palace, Su Mu finally saw the face of the person who came, his pupils suddenly contracted, and a huge wave of emotions surged in his heart.

Xiao Yunshang!

His unique and elegant fragrance, his breathtakingly beautiful and unparalleled face, were etched in his memory and he would never mistake them for anything else.

But everything before him was so absurd that it shook him to his core.

Why would his devoted wife, with whom he had shared a deep and loving relationship, turn around and kill him?

"No...this isn't real."

Su Mu shook his head violently, looking flustered and constantly denying his own beliefs.

"I understand now. I'm in the primordial passage of the Mystic Immortal Pavilion. This is all an illusion! A deception created by my inner demons!"

In an instant, his chaotic thoughts returned to him, and he suddenly remembered his situation. He was not in the Tianyuan Star Imperial City, but in the treacherous and unpredictable Secret Realm Reincarnation Passage.

He immediately closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and mobilized his powerful soul force, trying to forcibly tear apart the illusory world before him and break free from the shackles of his inner demons.

The excruciating pain piercing through the body was incredibly real, and the icy sensation of life force rapidly draining from the body swept through every limb and bone, leaving no trace of falsehood.

This intense and real pain and decay constantly assaulted and destroyed his newly stabilized rationality and Daoist heart.

With her eyes tightly closed, her emotions were completely out of control. Her brows were furrowed, full of doubt, her lips were pressed together, revealing tension, her facial muscles twitched slightly, and the fear and unease hidden deep in her eyes were fully revealed.

"How could this be... Even though I know it's an illusion, why can't I break free from it?"

Fine beads of sweat seeped down his forehead, quickly soaking his temples.

What people fear most is not the certainty of death in a precarious situation, but the despair of seeing through the illusion yet being powerless to escape. The inner defenses, imperceptibly, are already on the verge of collapse.

Just as his Dao heart was on the verge of collapse, Xiao Yunshang's icy, piercing voice slowly rang out from ahead, each word stabbing at the heart: "Su Mu, do you know how long I have endured and waited for this day?"

Su Mu suddenly opened his eyes and stared intently at the woman in front of him.

He could clearly see undisguised disgust, deep-seated loathing, and boundless, chilling killing intent in Xiao Yunshang's eyes.

"hehe……"

Xiao Yunshang stared directly into his eyes, letting out a series of cold laughs, her tone filled with extreme resentment and contempt: "Back then, when I returned to Tianyuan Star, I witnessed the complete decline and ruin of the Xiao family. And you, a mere eunuch of lowly birth, actually rose to become the supreme ruler of my Xiao family, wielding immense power and enjoying boundless glory! From that moment on, I had only one thought in my heart—to kill you and completely erase this humiliating past of the Xiao family!"

The cold words were like sharp blades, piercing deep into Su Mu's heart.

Su Mu kept reminding himself that it was all falsehood, all illusion, and that the inner demons of the cycle of reincarnation were deliberately disturbing his true nature and distorting his mind.

He clenched his teeth and fists, desperately trying to hold onto the last shred of clarity and reason in his mind.

But Xiao Yunshang's words of piercing the heart did not stop. Every word tore open the most hidden scars in his heart: "At that time, the Tianyuan Star was invaded by the Gui Clan and war broke out everywhere. The Xiao family was in turmoil and on the verge of collapse. I had no choice but to deliberately befriend you and pretend to be friendly with you."

"In order to win you over to serve the Xiao family, to secure a glimmer of hope for the family, and to seize cultivation resources from you and consolidate the family's foundation, I suppress the endless revulsion in my heart and willingly marry you, becoming your wife in name only!"

"shut up!"

In that instant, Su Mu finally couldn't suppress his emotions, almost roaring as he retorted, his eyes bloodshot: "I'm not a eunuch! When I married you, I was already a perfectly healthy man!"

Even the most invincible person, with a heart as firm as a rock, will eventually have a weakness.

Throughout his life, Su Mu was unafraid of the battles between powerful beings from all heavens, the encirclement and suppression by all races, or the oppressive power of the Heavenly Dao. Even when faced with the overwhelming might of Heaven, he remained proud and unyielding, refusing to bow down. However, his past as a eunuch, who spent his youth in the imperial city enduring countless humiliations, was the scar he least wanted to touch, the most hidden and humble one in his life.

If others wantonly expose him, mock or ridicule him, he can calmly ignore it and laugh it off.

But the one who spoke mockingly and trampled on his dignity at this moment was his wife, whom he treated with all his heart, trusted completely, and regarded as the love of his life.

It is common knowledge that a man's most untouchable bottom line is being rejected by the one he loves.

The ones who can truly wound you the most are always those you have given your heart to and trusted completely. Because the sharp blade that pierces your heart is always the one you personally handed over and entrusted with your life.

Su Mu's Dao heart completely relaxed, and his emotions were on the verge of breaking down. A flash of extreme pleasure crossed Xiao Yunshang's eyes, and she spoke with increasingly sarcastic and cold words: "You did recover your full health when you got married, but your flawed and lowly past can never be erased!"

"Do you know how disgusted and repulsed I felt every time we were intimate? Countless nights, with you by my side, I wanted to kill you and end this humiliation!"

"But at that time, the Xiao family needed you, and Tianyuan Star needed you, so I could only suppress my disgust and endure it until now!"

"But now, you are utterly useless!"

"My Xiao family has risen to prominence, firmly establishing itself as the leading power in the Langya Star System. With your personally nurtured adopted sons and daughters guarding the four directions, the Xiao family's foundation is as solid as a rock, free from any hidden dangers!"

"Once you die and your life is extinguished, I will allow the Changsheng you adopted to change his surname to Xiao! From this day forward, Tianyuan Star will only have the Xiao royal family, and there will be no more Su family emperors!"

Each cold and harsh word was like a thousand sharp ice blades, repeatedly piercing and tearing at Su Mu's heart.

"No...no way..."

Su Mu shook his head desperately, trying to deny all of this as an illusion, but the sorrow and despair surging in his heart were already out of control, spreading wildly like a bottomless black hole and devouring his mind.

Overwhelmed by intense grief, and amidst the violent upheaval of his mind, Su Mu suddenly felt a surge of metallic sweetness in his throat.

puff--!

A mouthful of scalding, scarlet blood suddenly spurted out!

Already suffering from severe back injuries and rapidly losing vitality, his body was on the verge of collapse, swaying precariously as if he would crash to the ground and perish at any moment.

Su Mu's gaze was unfocused and his body was unsteady. He struggled to lift his eyes to look at Xiao Yunshang in front of him, his vision gradually blurring and distorting.

The stunning figure of the beautiful woman before my eyes gradually blurred, overlapped, and dissipated.

When the last bit of strength in his body was completely drained, the light in Su Mu's eyes went out, and filled with resentment and regret, he slowly closed his eyes.

As the light faded and the pain subsided, that unforgettable figure vanished without a trace.

Boundless darkness enveloped his mind, and inner demons wantonly eroded his soul.

Even though the seven-colored illusory pearl within his body tried its best to emit purifying light, it could only temporarily slow down the rate at which his Dao heart turned black and his soul sank, but it could not completely break free from the mental demon's imprisonment in the cycle of reincarnation.

Su Mu could no longer distinguish whether he was alive or dead; everything around him was illusory, ethereal, and intangible.

Endless darkness breeds boundless emptiness, and the black hole in his heart continues to expand, gradually eroding his soul and devouring his true self.

Every word Xiao Yunshang uttered, so piercing to the soul, echoed repeatedly in his sea of ​​consciousness, tormenting his mind and ravaging his Dao heart at all times.

Sinking into darkness, unaware of the passage of time.

Perhaps it's just a fleeting moment, or perhaps it has already endured countless ages.

Just as Su Mu was about to be completely swallowed by the boundless darkness and his soul was about to be completely controlled by his inner demons, a sentence he once uttered with great conviction suddenly resounded in his desolate and silent inner world, deafeningly powerful.

"Even if I were to live a thousand lifetimes, I, Su Mu, would still be Su Mu!"

Om-!

The raging black hole in the mind suddenly stopped expanding, and the surging sorrow, despair, anger, and obsession vanished completely in that moment.

Involuntarily, Su Mu murmured ancient verses in his heart, his voice hoarse yet clear.

"Ten years have passed, and we are separated by life and death. I try not to think of you, but I cannot forget you."

"A lonely grave a thousand miles away, nowhere to speak of my sorrow."

Even if we met again, we would not recognize each other, for our faces are covered in dust and our temples are like frost.

Life and death, ups and downs, the cycle of reincarnation, all kinds of obsessions, all become clear in a single day.

In the darkness, the scenes of the mind-piercing illusions and the hurtful images from just moments ago slowly replayed.

But this time, seeing Xiao Yunshang's resolute betrayal and hearing those harsh and cutting words, Su Mu felt no ripples in his heart, no sadness, no joy, no anger.

He had a complete epiphany.

We are born alone, and we die alone.

Meeting, companionship, and parting in this world are all encounters and past experiences along the way. No one can accompany you forever or stay with you for eternity.

Flowers bloom and fade, flourishing and withering year after year; spring comes and goes, life goes on and on.

Everything in the world has a beginning and an end, death and birth, in a cycle of reincarnation, which is the natural way of heaven.

All worldly splendor and obsessions are illusions; only one's own true nature and one's own great path remain eternally undying.

A clear light quietly sprouted and slowly bloomed once again from the barren inner world.