97: Chapter 97: Using wine as a pretext for flirtatious advances, a gourd lightly teases a beauty's chin.

Xue Bie'e gasped, her stunning face, previously etched with Evil Qi, instantly turning as pale as paper.

As a high-ranking member of the Heavenly Demon Sect, she had naturally already received the secret report about the earth-shattering upheaval that occurred last night at the Prince of Zhenbei's Manor.

That peerless madman who single-handedly cut through Tianyin Pass, crippled three old monsters at the Divine Bridge Realm within the manor, and made the Imperial Preceptor and Ancestral Master wait outside for half a shichen...

was none other than their Heavenly Demon Sect's new, supreme Sect Leader—the Wine Sword Immortal, Ye Xiu!

"It seems the air and water of the Imperial Academy are truly nourishing."

"Even my Heavenly Demon Sect's Right Protector dares to refer to herself as 'this old lady' here."

Ye Xiu walked until he was less than three steps away from Xue Bie'e before stopping.

His strikingly unusual heterochromatic gold and silver eyes swept brazenly over Xue Bie'e's exquisite face.

Following the line of her slender, fair neck, his gaze traveled with utter audacity down her fiery, enviable figure.

And down to that long leg of hers, raised high and planted on Qin Mu's chest.

"What? Is the Right Protector planning to set rules for this Sect Leader?"

The corner of Ye Xiu's mouth lifted into a smile of extreme, wicked charm:

"Or is it... that this 'old lady' of yours puts on airs greater than your rightful Sect Leader?"

*Boom!*

These words struck like a bolt of divine lightning from the Nine Heavens, exploding directly in Xue Bie'e's mind!

All the fierce, scathing courage that had just dared to curse gods and buddhas vanished without a trace in the face of this living Yama of a direct superior!

"S-Sect Leader?!"

Xue Bie'e shuddered in fright. The beautiful leg resting on Qin Mu's chest snapped back as if shocked by electricity.

The retraction was too swift, compounded by extreme fear and panic in her heart.

This grand master of the Divine Treasury Realm, the Right Protector of the Heavenly Demon Sect, incredibly and rarely, tripped over her own feet, her heeled combat boot twisting.

She completely lost her balance, stumbling forward in an utterly disheveled manner!

"Ah!"

Xue Bie'e let out a cry of alarm, closing her eyes, thinking she was about to suffer a massive loss of face before the entire Imperial Academy.

However, the anticipated sharp pain of crashing onto the hard obsidian ground did not come.

An extremely broad, scalding hot, large hand possessing an irresistible, domineering strength.

With perfect precision, caught hold of her slender, supple, boneless waist!

"Is the Right Protector so enthusiastic, throwing herself into this Sect Leader's arms upon first meeting?"

Ye Xiu's low, magnetic voice sounded above Xue Bie'e's head.

Xue Bie'e's eyes snapped open. She found herself pressed rather intimately against Ye Xiu's chest.

That peerlessly handsome face was close at hand. Those heterochromatic gold and silver eyes glittered with a teasing light, as if looking at prey.

Feeling the astonishing heat radiating from that scorching hand at her waist, and the intensely potent masculine aura emanating from Ye Xiu's body,

this usually fiery-tempered, aloof Right Protector of the Heavenly Demon Sect, unprecedentedly, flushed red.

"T-This subordinate deserves death!"

Xue Bie'e struggled to break free in a panic, but Ye Xiu's arm, forged like iron, held her firmly against him, making movement impossible.

"This subordinate was unaware of the Sect Leader's grand arrival... this subordinate's eyes are dull, failing to recognize Young Master Qin as the Sect Leader's brother...

This subordinate's crime warrants ten thousand deaths! This subordinate begs for the Sect Leader's punishment!"

Where was even half of the arrogance that had her calling herself 'this old lady' moments ago?

Her head bowed, her proud, ample bosom heaving violently from tension, her voice soft as a frightened kitten, filled with terror and grievance.

"Punishment? Naturally, there will be punishment."

Not only did Ye Xiu not release her, he audaciously lowered his head, bringing his lips exceedingly close to her reddened earlobe.

In a voice only the two of them could hear, thick with suggestive implication, he murmured:

"Daring to strike a brother under my, Ye Xiu's, protection... that debt isn't so easily settled. Since you're so fond of teaching rules..."

Ye Xiu's fingers rubbed against Xue Bie'e's slender, pliant waist in an exceedingly ambiguous manner, sending a shiver through the peerless beauty's entire body.

"Then tonight, you will come personally to my Princess Mansion."

This whisper, entering Xue Bie'e's sensitive earlobe, shot through her limbs like an electric current.

This Right Protector, who usually walked sideways within the Heavenly Demon Sect and dared to curse at Elders to their faces, felt a *buzz* in her head.

As if countless fireworks had simultaneously exploded.

If not for Ye Xiu's iron-forged hand firmly gripping her slender waist, she likely would have melted into a puddle right there on the Imperial Academy's training grounds.

"S-Sect Leader... in public... this subordinate..."

Xue Bie'e's bright, striking face instantly flushed crimson to the tips of her ears. Even her fair, slender neck took on a tempting shade of pink.

She was usually most adept at sharp-tongued retorts.

But now, facing this new Sect Leader, rumored to be decisive in Slaughter and wildly, wickedly charming, she couldn't even stammer out a complete sentence.

She could only cling to the white robe on Ye Xiu's chest like a frightened quail.

Not daring at all to look up and see the ghost-struck gazes of the surrounding Imperial Academy Disciples.

Seeing this originally fiery, untamed beauty in his arms instantly turn into a pliable, weak-kneed mess,

a flash of intense mockery and romantic passed through Ye Xiu's heterochromatic eyes.

Not only did he not release the hand around her waist, he arrogantly lifted his head.

With his left hand, he pulled the stopper from the purplish-red wine gourd at his waist with extreme dashing.

*Gulp, gulp...*

Ye Xiu didn't even use his hand to support it, simply tilting his head back.

Letting that crimson, blood-like, knife-sharp, finest Western Region wine pour into his throat like a crystalline waterfall.

A few drops of the richly fragrant wine slid down the sculpted lines of his handsome jaw.

With perfect precision, they dripped onto Xue Bie'e's fair collarbone, which was heaving violently from nervous.

"Hiss..."

The strong liquor, mixed with the violet-gold Pure Yang True Qi emanating from Ye Xiu's body, dripped onto Xue Bie'e's delicate skin.

Instantly transforming into a ball of scalding flame, it made her whole body tremble. She let out a suppressed, yet Charming at heart, soft moan.

A Hint of Impertinence in the Wine!

Having drunk his fill, the corner of Ye Xiu's mouth lifted into a curve brimming with wicked aura.

He didn't reach out to touch Xue Bie'e's face. Instead, with utter naturalness, he extended the purplish-red gourd in his hand, still wet with a few glistening drops of wine.

The round, slightly cool base of the gourd pressed against Xue Bie'e's smooth, fair chin—exceedingly frivolous, exceedingly overbearing!

"Look up."

Ye Xiu's voice wasn't loud, yet it carried the Immortal King's Intimidation that brooked no disobedience.

Xue Bie'e's delicate frame shuddered. Under the provocation and force of the wine gourd,

she had no choice but to lift that exquisite face—with extreme humiliation, yet extreme submission.

Their gazes collided violently in the air.

Xue Bie'e's phoenix eyes, usually filled with Evil Qi and fierceness, now held only a thick mist of tears and shame.

Before her were a pair of heterochromatic gold and silver eyes, holding seven parts wild abandon, three parts drunkenness, as if capable of seeing straight through her very Soul.

"Why so silent now?"

Ye Xiu's scorching breath, heavy with the scent of wine, audaciously washed over Xue Bie'e's red lips.

"Weren't you calling yourself 'this old lady' quite happily just now, while stepping on my brother?

Hmm? Where has the Right Protector's prestige gone?"

"This subordinate... this subordinate wouldn't dare..."

Xue Bie'e felt she could barely breathe, overwhelmed by the strong scent of alcohol and masculine aura. Her heart felt ready to burst from her chest.

Biting her red lip, she trembled out words in a voice so soft and pleading it was Ultimate:

"The Sect Leader humbles this subordinate too much... Before the Sect Leader, Bie'e is just an ignorant underling...

This subordinate begs the Sect Leader... to leave this subordinate some face..."