365: Chapter 365 I'm going to kill you... but maybe I should just forget it.

Inside the hidden stone chamber, the light was soft.

luminous pearls emitted a warm glow, enveloping the two people sleeping in each other's arms on the jade bed in a blanket of tranquility.

At dusk, Ji Qingyun, who had been asleep for a long time, fluttered her long eyelashes like butterfly wings twice before finally slowly opening her autumn-water-like eyes.

The moment her consciousness returned, a strange and unspeakable soreness from all over her body made her let out a weak, low cry.

This low cry sounded exceptionally clear in the silent stone chamber.

Ji Qingyun's memory was still stuck at the moment her sanity was consumed by the Primordial Pink Poisonous Miasma. She only remembered her body being as hot as fire, throwing herself into Xu Chen's arms like a madwoman.

As for what happened afterward, those intermittent, blushing, and absurd images were now flooding into her mind like a tide.

Her cold and beautiful face instantly turned from pale to a deep red that looked as if it were about to drip blood.

“You're... awake?”

A deep voice with a hint of lazy laughter came from above her head.

Ji Qingyun stiffly raised her head and met Xu Chen's deep and playful eyes.

Only then did she realize she was sprawled across this man's chest like an octopus, completely devoid of her usual image. Between the two of them, there was only a thin snow-fox fur blanket.

“Ah!”

Ji Qingyun let out a short scream and, like a startled rabbit, suddenly sprang away from Xu Chen's embrace.

She hurriedly grabbed the blanket, wrapping herself up tightly like a zongzi, and shrank into the farthest corner of the jade bed.

Those eyes, which were originally clear and wave-less, were now filled with shock, shame, and a hint of overwhelmed panic.

“You... what did you do to me?!”

Ji Qingyun's voice was trembling.

Xu Chen propped his chin with one hand, lying on his side on the jade bed, leisurely watching the cold white lotus shivering in the corner.

He didn't make any effort to hide his lean, well-proportioned, perfect upper body; he even deliberately showed off his muscle lines.

“Qingyun, you can't just say things like that. It will affect my, Xu Chen's, lifelong reputation.”

Xu Chen sighed, putting on an innocent look like a victim.

“Think carefully. At that time, you were poisoned by that damned aphrodisiac miasma and your mind was unclear. Who was it that clung to me like a water snake? Who was it that cried and begged me to save their life? I, Xu Chen, out of the goodness of my heart, used the Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation Art to help you detoxify, even sacrificing my own dignity. Now, you're not only ungrateful, but you're also turning around and biting me?”

These words, which twisted the facts and played the victim after getting the better end of the deal, made Ji Qingyun tremble with rage.

Although she was inexperienced in the ways of the world, she knew the principle that men and women should not touch. Moreover, this was no longer a matter of 'not touching'; she had been eaten until not even a bone fragment remained!

Recalling those frantic fragments, it was indeed she who had taken the initiative to throw herself into his arms. But... but he was awake! He could have completely pushed her away and used another method to detoxify!

“You... you're shameless!”

Ji Qingyun was filled with shame and indignation, and her eyes instantly welled up with aggrieved tears.

She suddenly reached out and grabbed at the void.

Accompanied by a crisp sword chime, a Green Lotus Longsword condensed from her Origin power instantly appeared in her hand.

The longsword pointed straight at Xu Chen's throat, its tip swirling with sharp Quasi-Saint-Grade Law fluctuations.

“I... I'm going to kill you, you lecher!”

Ji Qingyun gritted her teeth, her hand holding the sword trembling slightly due to extreme shame and anger.

This was the first time in the tens of thousands of years since her birth that she had felt such a strong killing intent toward someone, yet it was mixed with a complex emotion she couldn't even explain herself.

Facing the cold-glinting sword tip inches away, Xu Chen not only didn't dodge, but he didn't even frown.

His deep eyes changed from their previous playfulness to an unprecedented seriousness and affection.

He slowly reached out, his two long fingers gently pinching the cold blade.

“If you feel that killing me will make you feel better, then do it.”

Xu Chen's voice was deep and magnetic, without a hint of affectation, only a sincerity that made it impossible to refuse.

“I said it before: the woman I, Xu Chen, have set my sights on cannot be taken away even by the Heavenly Dao. That miasma was indeed unsolvable; if it were anyone else, I could have simply killed you with one sword strike to end it. But you are different.”

Xu Chen stared intently into Ji Qingyun's watery eyes.

“From the first moment I saw you in the blood pool, you could only be mine. I won't allow you to die. If the price of saving you is being called a lecher, or even being stabbed to death by your sword, I, Xu Chen, accept it.”

These words of love, combined with Xu Chen's peerlessly handsome face and upright aura, were simply a precision-guided emotional nuclear bomb.

For a descendant of the Demon Emperor who had just experienced intimacy for the first time and whose heart was extremely fragile and sensitive, this combination of 'playing hard to get' and a 'deep confession' was of a destructive level of lethality.

Ji Qingyun's hand holding the sword completely froze.

Xu Chen's words were like a heavy hammer, ruthlessly striking her heart that had only just learned to beat.

She looked at this man before her who was willing to give up his life just to save her. In her mind, the image of him drawing his sword to kill the undead in the blood pool resurfaced, along with his gentleness when he dispelled the Death Qi for her by the campfire.

The defensiveness, coldness, and shame at this moment were like snow under the sun, rapidly melting away.

How could she possibly bring herself to strike?

“Clang.”

The Green Lotus Longsword condensed from her Origin fell powerlessly onto the jade bed, dissipating into specks of green light.

Ji Qingyun felt as if all her strength had been drained; she wrapped herself tightly in the blanket and buried her face deep in her knees. Suppressed sobs sounded intermittently in the quiet stone chamber.

“You... you're bullying me...”

In this voice, there was no longer the coldness of the high-and-mighty Demon Emperor's descendant, only the spoiled behavior of a small woman acting coquettishly and feeling aggrieved toward her man.

Watching this scene, Xu Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, while a thick wave of pity and love welled up in his heart.

He moved his body forward, stretched out his strong arms, and together with the blanket, pulled the crying figure tightly into his embrace.

This time, Ji Qingyun did not struggle or resist.

She just buried her face on Xu Chen's broad shoulder, letting her tears wet his skin. It was a sense of peace and dependence, as if after wandering for tens of thousands of years, she had finally found a safe harbor.

“Alright, don't cry anymore.”

Xu Chen gently patted her back with one hand while stroking her hair tenderly with the other.

“I, Xu Chen, am a reasonable person. Since I have taken your innocence, I will naturally take full responsibility for you. From now on, you are the rightful Young Mistress of my Xu Family. In these myriad worlds, as long as I am here, no one can let you suffer even the slightest grievance.”

Listening to this domineering yet warm promise, the last trace of resistance in Ji Qingyun's heart completely vanished.

Blushing, she raised her head from Xu Chen's shoulder, her watery eyes now filled with obedience and tenderness.

“You... do you mean what you say?”

“When has what I, Xu Chen, said to my wife ever not counted?”

Xu Chen let out a soft laugh and lowered his head to plant a gentle kiss on her smooth forehead.

The two of them just embraced quietly in the stone chamber for a while, enjoying this rare warmth.

Only after Ji Qingyun's emotions had completely calmed down did Xu Chen take out a set of brand-new clothes from his Storage Ring.

Su Qingge had prepared them; he hadn't expected them to come in handy now.

“Come, put your clothes on. We've delayed long enough in this stone cave; it's time to go out and continue with our business.”

Xu Chen turned around, giving Ji Qingyun space to dress like a perfect gentleman.

When Ji Qingyun changed into that water-blue wide-sleeved flowing immortal dress, her entire temperament underwent a subtle change once again. Amidst her original otherworldly coldness, there was now a hint of the charm and gentleness of a young woman, making Xu Chen unable to help but feel another surge of desire.

However, Xu Chen knew his priorities; now was not the time to continue being absurd.

He took Ji Qingyun's hand and strode out of the hidden stone chamber.

The sky outside had completely darkened.

The damaged Emperor Array still flickered with an eerie blood-light in the night.

Leading Ji Qingyun, the two did not return the way they came, but instead followed the edge of the basin, continuing to explore deeper into the restricted area.

After this episode, both of their cultivations had improved significantly through Dual Cultivation. Especially Xu Chen; the majestic Longevity Origin flowing within his body made him feel that even without using an extreme dao imperial weapon, he could tear a Great Saint apart with his bare hands.

Just as the two had finished resting and had stepped less than ten miles out of the basin's range,

the calm night was suddenly shattered.

“Rumble!”

The charred earth beneath their feet began to vibrate violently without warning. The sensation of the vibration didn't feel like an earthquake, but more like some incredibly massive living thing was turning over deep underground!

The surrounding Death Qi was pushed aside frantically like a tsunami.

“Careful!”

Xu Chen's gaze instantly became sharp. He pulled Ji Qingyun behind him and, at the same time, grabbed at the void with his right hand; that ancient, pitch-black demon sword instantly unsheathed.

On the sword's body, purple-gold Grandmist Sword Qi flickered in and out, emitting an ear-piercing sword chime.

“Crack——”

The ground hundreds of feet ahead cracked inch by inch like a spiderweb.

Immediately after, under Ji Qingyun's slightly panicked gaze, a behemoth over a thousand feet tall, like a black mountain, forcefully smashed through the surface, soaring into the sky with flying mud, rocks, and decaying Death Qi.

“Roar——!”

A terrifying roar loud enough to rupture eardrums exploded in the night sky of the restricted area.

That wasn't a mountain at all, but an Ancient Corpse-Beast whose size was suffocatingly massive!

Its body was covered in rotting flesh overgrown with green hair, and its huge head was like an inverted mountain peak. In its hollow eye sockets burned two clusters of eerie green soul-fire several times larger than those of the previous Undead Commander.

A pure Early Stage Quasi-Emperor pressure, like a physical storm, came crushing down toward Xu Chen and Ji Qingyun.

In the face of this pressure, the surrounding space began to show slight distortions.

Xu Chen stood his ground, his crimson cloak fluttering loudly in the storm.

He firmly protected Ji Qingyun behind him, looking up at the mountain-like monster, his eyes not only devoid of fear but instead dancing with an extremely intense Battle Intent.

“Finally met a sandbag that can take a hit.”

Xu Chen tightened his grip on the demon sword, his Supreme Sword Heart thumping wildly in his chest.

Just as Xu Chen was prepared to have a good head-on fight with this Quasi-Emperor monster,

another change occurred.