When the Thousand Blade Sect was annihilated, Liu Shuang had a vague premonition. Now, seeing Yan Chaosheng truly alive, despite their tense situation, she felt somewhat happy.

Three years ago, Yan Chaosheng had died tragically. She never intended to kill him, yet she had indeed caused his death.

Under the Fu Xi Seal, Yan Chaosheng’s soul had scattered, leaving behind only the wedding dress he had prepared for her. When she saw that wedding dress, tears had unknowingly welled up in her eyes.

Hatred, like love, dissipates with time. Liu Shuang suddenly realized that the youth who had clutched her skirt as he lay dying had borne hatred that shouldn’t have been his to bear. He had never harmed her and had liked her from the beginning.

During these three years, Liu Shuang had diligently cultivated, helped the scattered demons in the world, and lit a soul-pacifying lamp for Yan Chaosheng using the power of Huiling. Now truly seeing him standing before her, she still felt a sense of unreality, as if the next moment he would return to his dream state, coughing up blood and disappearing before her eyes. She would reach out to grasp him, only to helplessly watch his soul scatter.

Liu Shuang looked at Yan Chaosheng, who coldly gazed at her under the crystal lamp. She blinked, belatedly realizing that her current situation was precarious.

She had been wounded by Feng Fuming, her injuries untreated, her skirt covered in blood. And the person before her, who had captured her, certainly hadn’t brought her here to recuperate.

Liu Shuang moved her wrist, feeling the thin iron chains with faint silver light flowing through them.

Yan Chaosheng had just said these were Spirit-Binding Contracts. In his eyes, she had deliberately lured him to Kung Sang, trapped and killed him—he must utterly despise her. Liu Shuang asked hoarsely: “What do you intend to do? Kill me for revenge?”

Hearing this, he gave an inscrutable laugh.

It was bone-chillingly cold, causing her to shudder inwardly.

“Killing you would be too easy, Immortal Liu Shuang. If you were to die so simply, who would repay this Lord for three years of suffering?”

Such an answer didn’t surprise Liu Shuang. Yet in the dim light, the large shadow cast by the man still made her uneasy. If she were still the little immortal grass from her childhood, his tone would likely have scared her to tears, leading her to imagine the cruel tortures Yan Chaosheng might inflict upon her.

Fortunately, she had experienced too much over these years. Having survived the thunder tribulation, she had little to fear—at worst, it would merely be pain.

Perhaps Yan Chaosheng perceived her thoughts, for he gave a cold laugh and yanked her off the bed.

Liu Shuang let out a muffled groan as he aggravated her wounds. Yan Chaosheng paused momentarily and looked back coldly. She was quite conscious of her status as a prisoner and obediently followed his pace.

The chain binding her seemed to possess consciousness, undulating with their steps.

Finally, Yan Chaosheng led her to the entrance of a dark palace. Inside, the cries of those suffering punishments were piercing; she could hear them even standing at the doorway.

“Do you see? This will be your dwelling place from now on,” Yan Chaosheng said grimly. “The twelve tortures of the Ghost Domain—I imagine a strong person like you, Immortal, won’t dissolve into blood like these spineless creatures, but will manage to walk out alive.”

This was Liu Shuang’s first time seeing the Twelve Halls of the Ghost Domain. She hadn’t expected it to still exist; later, it would be abolished by Yan Chaosheng when he became the Demon Lord.

Mountains of knives, vats of oil, dismemberment, flesh-cutting… each one an extreme punishment designed for malevolent ghosts.

Her small face paled.

“Afraid?” Yan Chaosheng’s tone was mocking. “Perhaps Immortal Liu Shuang should beg this Lord. Maybe this Lord will consider our past relationship and not throw you in.”

Liu Shuang lowered her head.

She wasn’t afraid; rather, for the first time, she recognized that the youth who had deeply loved her had been killed by her own hands.

Not waiting for her answer, he seemed to grow angry and pulled her closer. Their eyes met, and for a brief moment, his cold expression faltered. Unexpectedly, Liu Shuang glimpsed her reflection in Yan Chaosheng’s eyes.

Her hair was disheveled, her lips pale, her cheeks covered with fine wounds—truly a pitiful sight. Since becoming the young master of Kung Sang, she had never looked so wretched.

She failed to catch that fleeting glimmer of pain in his eyes.

His gaze darkened, and his words remained harsh: “You stink.”

She felt a rare moment of embarrassment and pressed her lips together, trying to pry his hand away. She would accept death or torture, but couldn’t he stop dragging her back and forth like a chicken?

Besides, it wasn’t as if she had deliberately come so close to him—Yan Chaosheng had brought this discomfort upon himself, yet his words were so cutting.

However, Yan Chaosheng, who now seemingly wanted her dead, had no respect for her feelings.

In an instant, the black mist around them dispersed. Yan Chaosheng had taken her to the cold pool behind the forbidden area of the Ghost Domain. The water, made of who knows what, appeared deep blue, exuding a terrifying light.

Before she could speak, Yan Chaosheng threw her in.

Cold, so cold. Without her magic to protect her, Liu Shuang was suddenly plunged into the cold pool. The cold was so intense her hair nearly froze. She had no idea what this water was made of, but she trembled uncontrollably within it.

Liu Shuang gritted her teeth and tried to climb ashore. Yet she saw him sitting on the bank, coldly mocking as he watched her: “Clean yourself before coming out.”

Behind him was a blood-red moon, making him appear utterly detestable. Naturally, she ignored him, but as her hand touched the shore, he pushed it back in.

“Did you not hear this Lord’s words?”

During these three years, she had thought she had cultivated a peaceful mind capable of calmly facing the young Demon Lord’s revenge. But in this moment, countless indescribable grievances welled up.

Her hand was cruelly pushed back by the man. Liu Shuang looked up at the person before her. Three years ago, he had whispered in her ear that he would be good to her for a lifetime. Yet now that promise had vanished like smoke, and he couldn’t wait to kill her.

Liu Shuang’s body was nearly frozen, yet her eyes stung with unshed tears. He continued to look at her coldly, unmoved.

The next moment, Liu Shuang could no longer endure and fainted in the cold pool.

She was too cold to notice the blue mist from the cold pool sealing the wounds inflicted by the Xuanyuan Sword.

Divine weapon wounds were no ordinary injuries. The Xuanyuan Sword was a scorching yang object, and few knew that the only thing in the world that could heal such wounds was this small pool of extremely cold Ghost Weeping Spring.

But healing naturally came with suffering.

When Liu Shuang’s wounds had mostly healed, Yan Chaosheng walked into the cold pool and personally carried her out. In the Ghost Weeping Spring, the yin energy surged. Yan Chaosheng, supporting her body, couldn’t help but find her unconscious expression of grievance somewhat amusing.

If she hadn’t still held expectations for the young Demon Lord, her reaction wouldn’t have been like this.

His heart softened, though his face remained cold, maintaining the appearance of deep hatred. As he carried her back to the palace, the little ghosts who witnessed this scene gossiped the next day, saying the Demon Lord had tortured that immortal lady he brought back until she was half-dead and had fainted.

Returning to the palace, Liu Shuang’s body remained cold as ice. Yan Chaosheng ordered, “Bring the Fire Yang Cauldron.”

The ghost general acknowledged hesitantly: “But your body…”

“It’s fine.”

Soon, the Fire Yang Cauldron was brought. This magical tool was originally used for refinement and could dispel ghost energy. Now it would be used to warm Liu Shuang.

Yan Chaosheng was a ghost cultivator, and the Fire Yang Cauldron could harm him significantly, which was why the ghost general had hesitated earlier.

As the temperature in the palace rose, her trembling body gradually warmed. Soon, her small face flushed in her sleep. Yan Chaosheng laughed softly, ignoring the ghost energy dissipating from his own body. He mercilessly pinched her rosy cheek before extinguishing the Fire Yang Cauldron.

When Liu Shuang woke the next day, Yan Chaosheng was gone, leaving only a few little palace maids gossiping.

Their feet didn’t touch the ground—clearly ghost cultivators. She thought of her Chang Huan, remembering how once, because she feared ghosts, that little ghost cultivator had deliberately disguised himself as a mortal and learned to walk like one. Liu Shuang sat up, her gaze sweeping over them. After experiencing so much, she was no longer afraid of these beings, but Chang Huan was gone.

She wanted to see if Chang Huan might be among them.

To her disappointment, all the ghost maids were unfamiliar faces; she didn’t see Chang Huan.

They chattered about how valiant the current Demon Lord was, how he was unifying the scattered, disordered ghost realm.

Liu Shuang remained chained, her mind in disarray, thinking one moment of Shao You whose fate was unknown, the next of the ruthless Yan Chaosheng from the previous night. She looked down at her clothes, which had been changed to new garments. The fabric was quite ordinary, seeming to have been gathered from the mortal realm, but her wounds didn’t hurt as much as they had yesterday.

These little palace maids shifted their topic to her, not caring that the subject herself was present, and began discussing her.

“This immortal lady is said to be the young master of Kung Sang.”

“How did an immortal from Kung Sang end up imprisoned in our Ghost Domain?”

“Don’t you know? She’s the evil woman who once caused our Demon Lord’s death.”

“It’s her? Everyone knows the Demon Lord now wants to flay her alive and drink her blood. Who knows how many days she has left to live?”

They speculated enthusiastically about how the Demon Lord would torture her in the future. But Liu Shuang vaguely sensed something amiss. Her body grew hot, her spirit marrow burning wave after wave, her entire being warming—these were… signs of an impending breakthrough!

She was thunderstruck. At this moment, she was about to break through, which meant facing a thunder tribulation. Why did it have to happen while she was with Yan Chaosheng?

Currently chained with her spiritual power unusable, she had no means or preparation to counter the tribulation thunder.

Liu Shuang felt completely unwell. Although her cultivation had progressed rapidly these past few years, she had never shown signs of breaking through a major boundary. At a time like this… it was life-threatening.

Immortals approached cultivation thunder tribulations with extreme caution, often experiencing them only once every few hundred or even thousand years. The various protective magical tools required also needed to be prepared with utmost care.

The slightest mistake could result in death under the thunder tribulation, or like Shao You’s father, leave hidden dangers that not only made further cultivation advancement difficult but also affected one’s lifespan.

Each person could only sense their timing for crossing tribulations. Liu Shuang reluctantly checked again, confirming it was indeed this unlucky—the breakthrough thunder tribulation, which could have come any time, seemed to deliberately oppose her by arriving now.

Liu Shuang took a deep breath, her restless cultivation making her increasingly uneasy. Doing nothing, she could only wait to be reduced to ashes here.

So she had to interrupt the ghost maids’ conversation, asking with difficulty: “Where is the Demon Lord?”

A ghost maid replied: “The Demon Lord is naturally busy.”

“Could you pass a message? I wish to see him.”

“Hmph, you’re a prisoner. Do you think you can see the Demon Lord whenever you want?”

“Please,” Liu Shuang said. “It’s truly important.”

Liu Shuang didn’t have much hope. Even if Yan Chaosheng knew she was about to face a tribulation, not only would he refuse to release her, but he would likely watch from the sidelines, enjoying her predicament.