“Who are you?”

The ice abyss was deep and vast—looking up, there was no end; looking down, there was no bottom.

In the boundless mountain depths between up and down, four massive black chains appeared. These chains grew from the mountain walls, crisscrossing in midair to lock up a red-robed woman at the very center.

This was a very beautiful woman.

She had an extraordinarily gorgeous face with extremely captivating features, wearing a bright red robe in a man’s style. Her long hair was bound high behind her head, and between her flowing eyebrows was a rare heroic spirit that gave her a unique androgynous charm.

In the cold-colored ice cave, her raven-black hair was like a cold, silent night, while her flame-colored robes became the only vibrant life in this expanse of silver-white. Black, snow-white, bright red—chains, ice, long robes—the contrast of these colors was too stark, giving this woman’s beauty a kind of emptiness and clarity that didn’t belong to the mortal world, instantly captivating one’s entire soul.

Zanxing never expected that in this boundless cold abyss, such an enchanting woman would be locked away. She didn’t answer the other’s question, only asking: “And who are you?”

Hearing this, a flash of surprise crossed the woman’s eyes as she muttered to herself: “So it’s a girl—I couldn’t tell at first glance…” As if sensing Zanxing’s gaze, she looked over and smiled slightly: “I am Bujiang.”

“Bujiang…” Zanxing pondered, then suddenly reacted, looking sharply at the other person: “You’re Demon Empress Bujiang!”

That book hidden in “Young Miss Yang’s” book chest, “Demon Empress’s Memoir: On My Wedding Night, I Discovered My Husband’s Illegitimate Child,” had detailed the melodramatic story of first marriage, then love between Demon Empress Bujiang and Demon King Gui Diao Tang. It hadn’t included any illustrations, so she hadn’t known what the Demon Empress looked like. Now seeing her in person, she realized the book’s descriptions didn’t capture even one ten-thousandth of her true beauty.

Bujiang lightly frowned: “I’ve only been in seclusion for a few decades, yet the outside world has already forgotten my name?” She looked at Zanxing: “When you saw me, you should have been able to recognize me immediately. After all, in this world, besides me, no one else could possess such peerless beauty.”

Zanxing: “…” She didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Never mind,” she spoke again carelessly. “Seeing your young age, perhaps you’ve never left home much. Having little experience is understandable. However, hmm…” She examined Zanxing carefully: “Your face is so dark—were you burned by fire?”

Before climbing up, Zanxing had used the ice in the caves as a mirror to look at her face. If the black marks left by “Yu” had previously damaged her appearance, this face with flesh peeled away by divine fire truly couldn’t even be called a face anymore.

Bujiang sighed: “That madman has always killed like a demon. I didn’t expect he’s now learned to torture people too. Which family’s child are you? So unlucky—truly the first I’ve ever seen.”

Zanxing didn’t speak, her mind recalling Gui Yansheng’s words.

“You are the Demon King’s daughter, my half-sister from a different mother.”

The Demon King’s daughter. Gui Yansheng was half-demon, so his mother wasn’t from the demon race. Since he spoke so confidently, then…

Zanxing stared at Bujiang and slowly spoke: “My name is Yang Zanxing.”

Bujiang’s expression froze.

The next moment, a stream of water-like demonic energy flew from her hand and entered Zanxing’s body. Zanxing felt a warm current flow through her entire body. This aura was very familiar, making all her limbs relax.

In the silent ice abyss, Bujiang withdrew her hand and looked at the person before her with a strange new gaze.

After an unknown amount of time, the woman finally sighed: “I never imagined that with my and Gui Diao Tang’s appearances, the daughter we bore would look like this… Are you called Yang Zanxing?”

Her tone seemed very unwilling to believe that the Zanxing before her was her daughter.

Zanxing: “…” After a moment of silence, she said: “I was burned by divine fire pillars. I didn’t originally look like this.”

“I can see from your bone structure that even without being burned, you wouldn’t look much better, hmm?” Bujiang suddenly reacted: “Divine fire pillars? You were caught in the Ten Thousand Kill Formation?”

“Yes.”

“The Ten Thousand Kill Formation is the Taiyan Sect’s killing array. How did you go to the Taiyan Sect? No, wait—if you were caught in the Ten Thousand Kill Formation, how are you still alive? Demon race members who enter the Ten Thousand Kill Formation cannot come out alive. Even your father would suffer greatly if he fell into the Ten Thousand Kill Formation. How did you escape?”

Zanxing thought of Gu Baiying, her expression growing somewhat dim: “I had a friend who used the soul-sending technique to split off a strand of primordial soul to block the Ten Thousand Kill Formation for me, and helped cover my escape from the sect.”

“Your friend was quite generous.” Bujiang raised an eyebrow, her tone somewhat meaningful: “Willing to even split their primordial soul for you, not an ordinary friend.”

This wasn’t the time for idle gossip. Zanxing looked up: “What exactly am I? You just mentioned daughter… Am I your daughter?”

All around was quiet. Bujiang moved her wrists, and the massive iron chains made rustling sounds in the abyss.

After a long while, her voice sounded again: “I don’t want to talk about these old stories, but since you’ve found your way here, I suppose you already know quite a bit. Zanxing,” she called Zanxing’s name, her tone warm and gentle, containing a trace of very light laughter, as if comforted by this rare reunion: “I am your mother.”

“Mother…”

“Your father is Gui Diao Tang, with pure Heavenly Demon bloodline. Back then, I united with him and gave birth to you.” Bujiang’s voice was completely different from her gorgeous appearance, somewhat low and hoarse, the echo falling in the vast abyss as if coming from very far away.

“I thought that with our combined appearances and cultivation, the child we bore would surely be unparalleled in beauty, unmatched throughout the three realms. Who knew it would be so unfortunate—when I was pregnant with you, your father had already obtained the Xiaoyuan Pearl. He couldn’t control the Xiaoyuan Pearl, his heart demons gradually arose, and he caused widespread slaughter in the human world, provoking a whole group of enemies from the cultivation world.”

“Not long after I gave birth to you, he was killed.” Bujiang spoke with some regret: “At least he was a generation’s hero, yet he died miserably while the whole world applauded. At that time, the Demon King bloodline was severed, demonic energy withered, the entire demon race was in chaos, the cultivation world led demon-slaying armies to hunt down demon race remnants everywhere, and the demon realm was in constant internal strife.”

“I could barely take care of myself then. Thinking that leaving you in the demon realm would also be dangerous, I erased your Demon King marks, sealed the demonic power in your body, and sent you to the human world.”

“I spent a long time choosing and selecting the Yang family of Yue City for you. Yue City is remote, a small place with few people, convenient for hiding. The Yang family had many children, so as one of their daughters, as long as you didn’t stand out, you wouldn’t be noticed. Fearing attention from cultivators, I never came to see you, nor did I allow demon race members to approach you. I originally planned to bring you home after the demon race rose again and everything in the demon realm was stable, but I never expected you would find your way here yourself.” A trace of confusion appeared in her beautiful eyes: “I just don’t understand—Yue City is so far from the Taiyan Sect, why did you still get involved with them?”