It had been three days since Ye Xuan disappeared beyond the sect's borders.
Three quiet, suffocating days.
Tao Lin sat cross-legged in the cold stone chamber of the Tranquil Mind Pavilion, a place once meant for meditation—but now, her prison. Pale and sleepless, she hadn't spoken to anyone since her return. No cultivation. No visitors. No answers.
The sect had locked her away.
They said she had let Ye Xuan go. That she was too close to him. That there had once been… something unclean between them.
None of them knew what had truly happened that night.None of them understood how it felt to hold a sword against the only person who had ever given her hope… only to find him drenched in sin, soaked in the screams of the innocent.
She couldn't kill him.
But she couldn't forgive herself for not doing it either.
On the second night, they dragged her out to the Inner Sect plaza.
Ten elders surrounded the array formation, their faces stone cold. Tao Lin stood at the center, her hands shackled by silver spirit chains, forehead marked by a faint trace of black qi.
"If you claim innocence," one elder said, "then prove it. Sever the soul-link to Ye Xuan. Show us your loyalty."
She said nothing.
She had no choice.
The formation lit beneath her feet, runes spinning into the air like serpents of light. As the first strand touched her mind, her body convulsed—soul burning, veins screaming.
And from deep within her consciousness, a voice echoed:
"Trying to leave me? It's not that easy, Tao Lin."
Ye Xuan.
He wasn't there, but the link made distance irrelevant.
She screamed. Blood spilled from her lips. The formation cracked, unable to finish the severance. The bond ran too deep—fused to her spirit core.
Even the elders backed away, shaken.
The link could not be undone.
Far away, deep in the Forbidden Wastes known as the Demonlands, Ye Xuan stood over three fresh corpses. The blood still steamed in the cold wind. They had tried to rob him. Their mistake.
The system chimed calmly in his head:
[Villain Points +150][New Skill Unlocked: Bloodbrand Seal – drain vitality through dual cultivation.][Suggested Target: Nearest low-tier female demonic cultivator.]
He turned—and from the shadows emerged a woman in crimson robes, her lips as red as sin.
"You're Ye Xuan?" she asked, her voice soft and sharp.
He didn't reply.
"They say you defiled thirty female disciples in a single night," she whispered, licking her lips. "I like men like you."
Without waiting for consent, she slipped off her robe.
Ye Xuan didn't smile.But he stepped forward.
At that same moment, back in the Jade Cloud Sect, Tao Lin gasped and jolted upright from her meditation.
Her whole body burned.
A strange heat bloomed in her chest and coiled downward, setting her limbs on fire. Between her thighs, a warmth spread—moist and undeniable. Her breath quickened. Her heartbeat thundered.
She knew.
He was having sex.
[Link Active: Pleasure Feedback Engaged – Dual Sensory Overlap Detected.][Link cannot be severed.]
Tao Lin gripped her robes, trembling. She tried to suppress it, to resist—but the pleasure only grew.
Every thrust he made, she felt. Every moan, every shudder—as if she were the one pinned beneath him.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Why… why are you doing this to me…?"
Ye Xuan gripped the demonic woman's waist, slamming into her like a storm. His expression remained blank. But he knew Tao Lin could feel it.
He wanted her to feel it.
"You didn't kill me," he whispered inwardly."Then remember me like this—through your body, through your shame.""Even in lust… you won't escape me."
Back in the sect, the elders gathered in secret.
"She failed to sever the link," one muttered. "It may be high-level soul magic."
"If the link persists," another said darkly, "Ye Xuan could still control her. We must detain her long-term."
"Or force a dual cultivation with a stronger cultivator," a third elder suggested, "to neutralize Ye Xuan's influence."
No one asked for her consent.
That night, Tao Lin sat curled in her chamber, her robes damp with sweat and silent sobs. Her blade rested beside her—still unstained by his blood.
She stared at it, then at the moonlight on the floor.
"How far will you go to make me hate you, Ye Xuan?"
From the deepest part of her soul, only his voice echoed back:
"Until you become just like me."