The courtyard fell behind them. The whispers of the disciples, the white faces of the elders, even the suffocating silence of the Sect Master were left behind as Li Xian carried Su Yao into the burned-out hall that had served as the site for the sect's ceremonies.
The walls were charred, shards of jade tile still smoldering. But amidst the ruins lay silence.
He set her down gently on what was left of the altar stone. Her face was pale, streaked with soot and blood, her robes torn, barely clinging to her shaking body. But her eyes, jade eyes, remained alight; silver flame danced in them.
She tried to sit up, to speak, but her body would not respond. A tiny gasp escaped her lips, and she slumped against him.
"Enough," Li Xian said softly, his voice low and firm, yet holding a gentleness that no disciple had ever heard from him. "You carried me through Heaven's wrath. Now, let me carry you."
---
Her fingers weakly curled into his chest. "You're bleeding too."
He smirked, crimson light flickering across his cracked skin as his qi healed his wounds. "I bleed for you, Su Yao. It's nothing."
Her jade lips shook. She had seen him laugh in chains, rage against lightning, and defy deceptions that would destroy weaker men. But this—his quiet confidence and unyielding determination towards her—shook her heart more than any storm.
"Why me?" she whispered. "You could have taken the throne Heaven offered you. You could have taken power alone. Why. why bind yourself to me?
He crept forward, his scarlet eyes burning into hers. His fingers traced the contours of her cheek, scored with ash and tears, as if he wanted to engrave each line Heaven had dared to leave on her into memory.
"Because, Su Yao…" His voice was soft, husky with fatigue, but unbreakable. ".a throne is useless if the seat beside me remains empty. I can destroy sects, burn empires, and demolish Heaven itself—but all of it is nothing if you are not here to witness it."
Her chest tightened. Tears filled her eyes, streaming down her scarred cheeks. She hid her forehead in his chest, her voice trapped and shaking.
"Then regardless of what happens, I'll never leave. Even if your harem grows, even if countless women lie at your feet—I'll be put aside."
Li Xian's chuckle rumbled deep, dangerous but soft. He tilted her face up, making her meet his gaze. Red fire met silver flame, their passion burning hotter than the destruction that lay around them.
Let the world approach me. Let them beg, let them kneel. They will be flowers in my garden, diamonds in my crown, passing sparks in my tempest. But you, Su Yao…" His lips grazed hers, hard and unrelenting. ".you are the empress of my heart. The one who stood against Heaven with me. No one else will ever surpass you.".
She caught her breath, her tears streamed openly, but her smile—fragile and radiant—appeared. She believed him. For in his blood-red eyes, she found no deception, no shadow of uncertainty.
Only unwavering commitment.
---
They stayed so in the quiet, wrapped in each other among the remains of a broken cult, battered but unyielding.
Outside, rumors spread quickly. Gossip of Heaven's loss, of Li Xian's improbable survival, and of Su Yao's silver flame and red wings. Elders argued in whispers, disciples trembled in awe, and enemies far outside the sect began to stir.
But inside, among the rubble of the hall, there was no throne, no army, no Heaven.
Just Li Xian and Su Yao.
And within his heart, bloodsworn and storm sealed, she was queen unchallengeable.