Chapter 138: Backstabbing the Empress

“Senior Brother! Senior Brother! It’s bad! Chu Ling is trapped in the Land of Spirit Ruin—she has nowhere left to run! You have to go save her!”

Yue Hongling was pounding on the door, shouting anxiously.

Her relationship with Chu Ling had always been fairly good. The two of them both believed they could become Great Emperors through their own strength, and they excelled at combat.

They had also been among the first to meet, so their bond was indeed close.

“Ding ding ding! Quick, let me take a look!”

The system immediately rang out the moment it heard Yue Hongling’s words.

A light screen unfolded in front of Lu Ye.

“Senior Brother, I’m begging you! Chu Ling already knows she was wrong—please go save her! She understands now. You should give her a chance to change!”

Lu Ye turned a deaf ear, watching the images appear on the light screen.

“Bang bang bang!”

“Senior Brother, you can’t do this! She’s your lover! People aren’t saints—who doesn’t make mistakes? You said it yourself: to recognize one’s mistakes and change is the greatest virtue!”

“Senior Brother!”

“Senior Brother!”

“Lu Ye!”

“What’s wrong with you?! Just because Chu Ling made one mistake, she deserves eternal damnation?!”

“You weren’t like this before!”

Yue Hongling’s voice was full of urgency and anger.

Where did that anger come from?

Clearly, in Yue Hongling’s eyes, Chu Ling’s current situation was already Lu Ye’s fault.

Completely within expectations.

Lu Ye simply ignored her.

“Lu Ye, I really misjudged you. From now on, I will never beg you for anything again. Even if I die—I won’t ask you again!”

Yue Hongling stormed off, furious.

Her eyes glistened with tears, her body trembling from rage.

But if she didn’t beg Lu Ye, who else could she beg?

Who would risk offending both the Eternal Teachings Sect and the Supreme Sword Sect—those two titanic powers—to go save Chu Ling?

And who else even had the strength to rescue someone from the hands of those two colossal sects?

In that moment, Yue Hongling hated.

She hated herself for not being powerful enough. She was a reborn Great Emperor—so why was she still stuck at the Spirit Refining stage?

Among those reborn—

Her master had already reached the Tribulation Crossing Realm.

Chu Ling had broken through to the Combined Dao Realm.

Senior Brother was at the peak of the Combined Dao Realm, slaying cultivators in the Tribulation Crossing Realm like slaughtering dogs.

The Vermilion Bird... Well, she hadn’t heard from her in a while, but there was no way she was doing poorly.

Even that fool Shangguan Huanling had reached the peak of the Combined Dao Realm and could step into the Tribulation Crossing Realm at any time.

And what about herself?

Still struggling in the Spirit Refining Realm.

She’d been working incredibly hard in her cultivation, but improvement had a limit. She was truly frustrated, truly powerless.

That’s reality.

Some things simply couldn’t be accomplished through effort alone.

Yue Hongling’s talent wasn’t enough. And her Foundation Core—she had formed a Heaven-grade Core.

Even though her cultivation speed was already astonishing in others’ eyes, compared to the rest—it still wasn’t enough!

Not even close!

That was just how it was.

A soft sigh echoed behind her.

Bai Qiulan appeared, clad in flowing white robes, skin like snow, features like a painting.

“No, Master. You just broke through to the Tribulation Crossing Realm. It’s too dangerous,” Yue Hongling immediately refused.

“We can’t just stand by and watch Chu Ling perish, can we?” Bai Qiulan said.

“Then... how about you go talk to Senior Brother? If it’s you, he’ll listen. He’s always listened to—”

“Hongling.”

Bai Qiulan’s voice grew heavier.

Yue Hongling froze.

“Things aren’t the same anymore...” Bai Qiulan’s voice carried a faint desolation. She gazed into the distant sky, her expression tinged with quiet sorrow.

In that moment, Yue Hongling felt a lump rise in her throat.

Large teardrops slid down her cheeks, and her body trembled.

A thousand words rose to her lips, but none could be spoken.

“Master... do you think... is there really no way for us to go back to how things used to be?” Yue Hongling asked.

Bai Qiulan gently wiped the tears from Yue Hongling’s face and smiled softly.

“But isn’t this still... pretty good now?”

“Good?”

A faint shimmer of moisture flashed in Bai Qiulan’s eyes, and her voice was firm.

“Good!”

...

Lu Ye watched the Land of Spirit Ruin on the light screen—Chu Ling was now covered in blood.

Wounds littered her body.

She was gravely injured. Even her demonic sword was chipped and cracked in multiple places.

But the look in her eyes was still full of savagery.

“Chu Ling, our Supreme Sword Sect and your Grand Dao Sect were allies, and you are a disciple of Grand Dao. Yet you stole our Sword Mountain while we were aiding your sect. How is that any different from a demonic cultivator? Truly infuriating!”

The people from the Supreme Sword Sect shouted angrily.

“Hmph. Cultivators fight Heaven for the Dao and battle others for fortune. Sword Mountain benefits me—what’s wrong with taking it?” Chu Ling snapped.

Lu Ye heard Chu Ling’s words through the light screen, and his thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the past.

“Ling’er, the Gui Xu Sword Sect is a human ally. How could you refine their Gui Xu Sword?”

“Gongzi, the Gui Xu Sword benefits my cultivation. I just want to catch up to your pace, so I’ll take anything that helps my cultivation.”

“But doing this—Gui Xu Sword Sect is furious.”

“If they’re dissatisfied, let them come find me. If they have the ability, they can come break my sword too.”

“You... you’re coming with me to apologize!”

“Gongzi, the Gui Xu Sword Sect isn’t even that major. No need to be afraid of them!”

“They’re our allies. What you did is unethical.”

“Whatever. I’m not apologizing. I only did it to catch up with you—what’s there to apologize for?”

Lu Ye...

“Chu Ling, was it you who took the Celestial Sword Umbrella from the Xuan Tian Sword Sect?”

“Gongzi, I would never lie to you. It was me!”

“The Xuan Tian Sword Sect is one of the pillars of the human race. I’ve told you so many times—not to backstab allies, don’t backstab allies! Why won’t you listen?!”

“I need to get stronger. Sword cultivation is a path of conflict. If the Xuan Tian Sword Sect is unhappy, they can come challenge me to a sword duel!”

“If I lose, I’ll naturally return the Celestial Sword Umbrella!”

“This time, you will go apologize with me.”

“No. This is my sword path. I won’t apologize.”

“Then I’ll tie you up and drag you there if I have to!”

“Then you might as well cut off my head and carry it to apologize in my place. I just don’t get it—you’re already ranked top three in the Fourth Heaven. The entire Xuan Tian Sword Sect isn’t even a match for you. Why are you so timid? Aren’t you a sword cultivator too? Don’t you understand what it means to follow the way of the sword?”

Lu Ye...

Ugh. So many times. Who even knew how many.

Later on, Lu Ye had just become numb to it. As long as she caused trouble, he’d clean it up.

He was more than willing to dub Chu Ling the Backstabbing Empress.

Professionally backstabbing her own people.

And now, once again, she had returned to her old ways.

Maybe some people... really never change their selfishness.

This time, with no one there to clean up the mess, he’d just see how Chu Ling handled it.

She would definitely—

Uh...

Lu Ye remembered how many times he’d said “she’s definitely going to die” or “he’s definitely going to die,” and in the end, only the Vermilion Bird had actually died. He couldn’t help feeling a little sour.

Fine, he’d stop making declarations. It hurt too much getting slapped in the face.