After Xie Zhuo and I had a massive fight on Mount Buzhou that tilted the mountain three more degrees, Xi Wang Mu finally agreed to our divorce.

“I absolutely cannot fucking take it anymore!”

When my good friend Meng Meng asked why things had become so unbearable between Xie Zhuo and me, I finally burst out:

“That dish—I had to add spice to it!”

Meng Meng looked at me in confusion, furrowing her brows and parting her lips slightly. She appeared dumbfounded, as if what she had heard had stupefied her.

“Huh?” She eventually managed two words. “Just that?”

“Just that!?” I was beyond furious. “What do you mean ‘just that’!? For five hundred years, had he ever let me eat anything spicy whenever I was under his watchful eye? He doesn’t eat spice, so have I ever had a bite of spice? He doesn’t drink alcohol, so have I ever sipped wine?

Every single day, the food in our residence is so bland it would be better to eat shit! Five hundred years! I’ve endured for five hundred years! I just wanted to eat something spicy in front of him. Is that too much to ask!?”

Meng Meng gave me a complicated look: “You’re an immortal now, how can you still care so much about food pleasures… Besides, if you craved it, couldn’t you have eaten it secretly?”

I cast a cold glance at Meng Meng: “Have you forgotten who Xie Zhuo, Xie Xuanqing are?”

Meng Meng fell silent.

To be precise, this man, surnamed Xie, named Zhuo, styled Xuanqing, is neither human nor immortal—he’s a demon.

A legendary great demon from beyond the Northern Sea.

Even after five hundred years of marriage, I still haven’t figured out his true form. But what I do know is that when I wanted to marry him back then, all the immortals at Kunlun Xu visibly disapproved.

Everyone who saw me would ask one question: “Do you know who he is?”

I didn’t know. No one in Kunlun Xu knew, but everyone knew he was dangerous. His demonic power and mysterious nature made even Xi Wang Mu somewhat wary.

But now I know!

“He’s a jailer! A nightmare! A puppet master!”

“And I’m his prisoner! His puppet!” My anger and complaints surged forth: “All these years, even if I secretly sipped alcohol while he was away, he could smell it the moment he walked through the door three to five days later when he returned!

His nose is keener than the Howling Celestial Hound! Every time he caught me, I couldn’t escape his lectures and scolding. I’m a respected immortal, too—don’t I deserve some dignity?”

Meng Meng didn’t dare speak, just staring at me helplessly.

“And it’s not just about food. Whenever he’s at home, what I wear, where I go, who I meet—everything requires his approval. I endured it for the first hundred or two hundred years of marriage, but it’s been five hundred years! Still the same! Am I supposed to live like this for thousands and tens of thousands of years to come!?”

Meng Meng agreed: “That’s unreasonable…”

“The worst was when I went to inspect the troops. He would check on me every few days. Just last month, I was training with the recruits—just a few moves, literally just a few moves!

He saw it and nearly knocked that recruit’s teeth out, claiming he was helping me train the troops… Now in the barracks, I’m mocked by the veteran soldiers and avoided by the recruits. How am I supposed to work?”

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became: “He’s just a control freak! I must divorce him! Absolutely must!”

Just as I finished speaking, Meng Meng, who had been eating fruit, suddenly stared behind me, her mouth half-open, letting the plum in her hand drop to the ground.

Following her gaze, I looked back.

Xie Zhuo, the protagonist of my complaints, stood right behind me, still wearing his unchanging black clothes, piercing me with that cold, intimidating gaze like knives.

“Fu Jiuxia,” he called me by my full name.

I maintained my composure, returning his coldness with an overwhelming coldness of my own.

“Yes?”

“Go to Yue Lao’s Temple,” he said, these words very slowly. “Divorce…”

Nothing could please me more!

We walked to Yue Lao’s temple without exchanging a single word. Yue Lao was nowhere to be seen, sending only a small attendant who trembled like a quail.

The boy held a tray with a pair of green scissors on it.

“This… this green scissors cuts marriage ties. Once cut, they can never be rejoined. My lords… perhaps… reconsider?”

I stepped forward to the boy and picked up the green scissors.

The moment I took the scissors, the red marriage thread tied around our wrists slowly became visible.

I turned to look at Xie Zhuo. He was also looking at me, his pitch-black eyes calm and waveless, yet somehow darker than usual. The reflection of me in the depths of his eyes seemed to tremble slightly.

The towering wishing tree rustled in the wind, and the red thread between our wrists swayed with it.

Five hundred years ago, also here, we pricked our palms, interlocked our fingers, pressed our palms together, merged our blood to form the marriage thread that wound around our wrists, signifying that from this life onward, we would stay together forever, never to part…

But now…

I looked up at Xie Zhuo, my lips moved slightly, and finally uttered:

“That dish, I absolutely must add spice to it.”

“If you add spice, you’re not allowed to eat it,” he responded quickly.

I pressed my lips together, suppressing the familiar anger rising within me.

“You can’t control me anymore.”

With a “snip,” I used the green scissors to effortlessly cut the red thread between our wrists.

The wind blew, and the red thread that had wrapped around our wrists for five hundred years disappeared without a trace.

Xie Zhuo finally lowered his gaze to look at my wrist.

His face was sculpted with coldness, only his eyelashes, feather-like and fan-like, now illuminated by sunlight, cast a triangular shadow beneath his eyes, making his complexion seem somewhat pale and his mood tinged with a bit of loneliness and desolation.

Of course, he should be somewhat unhappy.

In our five hundred years of marriage, what I saw most often was him coldly telling me, “This is not allowed,” or “that cannot be done.” He had controlling tendencies in every aspect of life and always cared deeply about the rules and regulations he designed. My decisively cutting our marriage thread must have disrupted many of his plans, causing him displeasure.

However, as I told him in my last words, he couldn’t control me anymore, and I couldn’t control him either.

From now on, we would part ways and find our happiness. His emotions were no longer my concern, and I no longer had to endure his temper.

I placed the green scissors back on the boy’s tray, swept my robes, and turned to leave without another glance at Xie Zhuo.

Someone would take care of our residence. Whether Xie Zhuo left Kunlun or not was no longer my concern, but I was determined to move out of our previous home. Before settling into my new place, I stayed at Meng Meng’s immortal residence.

That night, I wanted to sleep with Meng Meng, but she was somewhat afraid: “No, no, no, don’t you remember? Before, when we went out together and I shared a tent with you, Xie Zhuo found out and lectured me thoroughly, telling me to prepare a separate tent for you… I’m scared…”

Look at that! This Xie Zhuo! What trauma he had inflicted on my friends! A girl! How ridiculous!

“I’ve divorced him, what are you afraid of?” I straightened my back. “Sleep! We’ll sleep together!”

“Oh…” She scratched her head. “I forgot.” Meng Meng rested her head on her hand as she lay down beside me and curiously asked, “Jiu Xia, will you feel strange after the divorce?”

I pursed my lips: “Strange about being free?”

Meng Meng yawned: “Five hundred years ago, every immortal in Kunlun opposed your union, yet you were determined to be with him even if it meant defying the world… I thought this must be what people call destiny. Unexpectedly… marriages in this world can change…”

Meng Meng fell asleep after saying that.

I lay in bed with my eyes open, my mind empty, filled only with her last words, circling.

Marriages in this world can change.

No major principles at stake, no blood feud, just a small habit that neither could see at their first meeting, which, after being fermented by time, expanded into an enormous conflict.

Time kills me, kills him, and kills everything in this world.

How could mere marriage be exempt?

That night, it took me a long time to fall asleep. I didn’t want to dwell on the reasons, but I hadn’t slept long before I was awakened by a violent shaking.

Demonic energy, very ominous.

I woke with a start…

Meng Meng beside me also rubbed her eyes: “What’s happening?”

Meng Meng was a minor immortal who tended flowers and plants, certainly not someone who should go out in danger. I reassured her: “You sleep. I’ll go check.”

As soon as I spoke, I felt a sense of familiarity. Upon reflection, I realized these were words Xie Zhuo often said to me before.

There was no time to dwell on it. I pushed open the door and went outside. At the towering peak of Kunlun that reached into the clouds, a black hole had appeared. The moon and stars seemed to be pulled toward that hole, as if it would devour the entire sky.

What was that thing? Just as I was shocked, immortals flew past overhead on the wind, and panic-stricken shouts came from somewhere:

“Xie Xuanqing has taken the Pangu Fu! Quickly, stop him!”

I was immediately stunned.

The Pangu Fu contained the power of world creation, stationed at the peak of Kunlun to keep all demons and evil spirits away. For tens of thousands of years, it had protected Kunlun’s peace.

Had Xie Zhuo gone mad? What was a demon like him doing with the Pangu Fu!? Wasn’t he afraid the power of the axe would make him bleed from all orifices and die?

Anxiety filled my heart as I swept my sleeves to summon the wind, quickly surpassing the other immortals in the air, flying toward Kunlun’s peak.

Several dozen miles from the mountain peak, I could already see numerous immortals blocked outside by a barrier.

Various magical treasures were deployed, spells cast against the barrier, but all were absorbed as if striking cotton.

This was Xie Zhuo’s barrier. I had seen it before—the more people attacked it, the stronger it became.

“Stop attacking!” I shouted to everyone. They turned to see me, and after a moment of surprise, a barrage of blame and questions came rushing toward me.

What was Xie Xuanqing thinking? Why did you divorce him? We should never have allowed your marriage in the first place… and so on.

The clamor was chaotic, making my head buzz.

I had no time to explain to the immortals. Carefully recalling the past, I finally remembered some methods to break through.

I tried using the technique Xie Zhuo had taught me, but as soon as my palm touched the barrier, it automatically opened a gap.

I paused. Xie Zhuo… was he letting me in?

Beside me, an anxious immortal tried to squeeze through, but as soon as he got his waist in, the barrier immediately closed, trapping him half-in, half-out, unable to move forward or back.

I touched the barrier again at another spot, and sure enough, another opening appeared.

Without further hesitation, I plunged in. As soon as I entered, the barrier immediately closed behind me.

I looked up to see Kunlun’s peak shrouded in pitch darkness.

“Xie Zhuo!” I called his name. A point of light flashed briefly in the darkness. I immediately followed it, passing through a black mist. Amidst chaos and confusion, I suddenly crashed into an invisible wall.

A gentle breeze passed along the wall. Behind it, Xie Zhuo sat on the ground in his black clothes and robe, holding what appeared to be a toy in his hands—the sacred treasure of my Kunlun… the Pangu Fu…

To my knowledge, Xi Wang Mu was the only immortal in Kunlun Xu who could lift the Pangu Fu…

Cold sweat immediately broke out on my skin.

I knew Xie Zhuo was powerful, but I never imagined he could be this strong…

I couldn’t help but recall the scenes of our fights over the years when I could no longer tolerate him… I thought we were evenly matched, but now…

I had been presumptuous, rash, and offensive…

Only now did I realize that I had been freely dancing on the edge of death, repeatedly tempting fate.

“What are you doing?” I suppressed my fear and scolded him. “Put down the Pangu Fu now. Whatever is between us, we can settle it ourselves. There’s no need to involve it.”

One slight swing of that thing could split Kunlun Xu in half!

“Fu Jiuxia.” He played with the Pangu Fu. “You can’t control me anymore.” As he said this, he looked up at me, his eyes like a black hole in the sky, silently devouring everything.

He swung the axe.

I cried out in alarm. The night sky seemed to open like a celestial gate, sucking in rocks from Kunlun’s peak.

Our clothes and hair danced wildly in the wind.

“Xie Zhuo! What exactly are you trying to do?!”

“I’m going to rectify my mistakes,” he said coldly, standing up from the ground. “When I return, I’ll be able to kill you.”

I was shocked! Listen to what he was saying!

I suddenly felt that for these five hundred years, I might have been in a fake marriage! Who was this Xie Zhuo? It seemed I didn’t know him at all!

The devouring power of the rift in the sky grew stronger. Xie Zhuo’s body floated toward the black hole, the Pangu Fu still gripped in his hand.

The Pangu Fu was crucial to Kunlun’s safety. I thought, no matter what, I couldn’t let Kunlun lose the Pangu Fu because of the grievances between Xie Zhuo and me.

Steeled my resolve, I gritted my teeth and rushed toward the sky.

Xie Zhuo watched me, his eyes narrowing slightly. He raised his hand, crooking his finger, and a strong wind carrying countless stones rushed toward me. I could sense that he didn’t want to kill me; he just wanted to stop me. But I…

“We can discuss killing later, but first, leave the Pangu Fu behind!” Suppressing my anger, I charged directly at him through the flying stones.

Xie Zhuo frowned, seemingly surprised by my recklessness.

By the time he raised his hand again, I had already rushed to him, reaching out to grab the Pangu Fu.

Just then, I felt a chill on my back. Black mist seemed to float out from the black hole in the sky, wrapping around me.

Xie Zhuo’s brows furrowed deeply: “Let go…”

“Put the Pangu Fu back!”

Xie Zhuo uttered a low shout, “Let go!” Before he could finish, everything went dark before my eyes. The black mist seemed to envelop my head, and the howling wind suddenly disappeared from my ears. I fell into a pitch-black silence like death.

Xie Zhuo was gone, and so was Kunlun’s peak.

“Xie…” I had just opened my mouth when intense pain invaded my body. I felt as if countless hands were tearing at me, pulling me, dragging me down endlessly into a dark abyss.

It was as if I was being taken from Kunlun’s peak straight to the eighteenth level of hell…