10,000 photographic stones

As dawn broke, the first golden rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds, yet they could not penetrate the icy Formation that perpetually shrouded the Cold Jade Palace.

Inside the palace, the lingering scent of intimacy and debauchery had not yet dissipated, mingling with the originally crisp fragrance of purple bamboo in the air, creating a suffocatingly peculiar odor.

On that ten-thousand-year cold jade bed, symbolizing the supreme authority of the Taichu Holy Land, lay a scene like a shattered yet tragically beautiful painting.

Yun Yuzhen was not asleep.

Or rather, she dared not sleep, nor did she wish to.

She lay there with vacant eyes, staring fixedly at the gradually dimming night pearls on the dome above, her body as rigid as a statue, unmoving.

Only the slight rise and fall of her chest indicated that this peerless Peak Revered Master of the Taichu Holy Land still clung to a breath of life.

Pain.

Not just the excruciating pain of her body being torn apart, but also the agony of her Soul being brutally trampled upon.

After that absurd and brutal night, the taiyin cold poison within her had indeed miraculously diminished by half.

That bone-chilling cold that had tormented her for three hundred years was forcibly suppressed and melted away by a domineering, scorching Pure Yang Qi.

That was Su Ye's aura.

Each time this warm current circulated through her Meridians, it felt like a silent mockery of her incompetence and degradation.

"Tap."

A faint footstep shattered the deathly silence.

Yun Yuzhen's body trembled violently, her vacant pupils instantly contracting. Instinctive fear made her want to shrink back.

But the golden light of the Dragon Trapping Formation merely flickered slightly, mercilessly confining her in place.

Su Ye had already risen.

He stood before the cold jade bed, his back to the morning light. His bare upper body displayed smooth and perfect muscle lines, every inch of skin brimming with explosive power.

This was the manifestation of his Physical Body reaching its ultimate sublimation after the Supreme Bone integrated into him.

He leisurely picked up the clothes from the floor, his movements as elegant as if he were attending a grand Sect ceremony.

First the inner robe, then the snow-white long robe symbolizing his status as the Eldest Senior Brother of Purple Bamboo Peak.

He fastened his belt, adjusted his collar, and even flicked imaginary dust from his sleeves into the air.

When he turned around, he had transformed back into that gentle, refined, and graceful Chief Prodigy of the Taichu Holy Land.

Only, those narrow phoenix eyes no longer held the respect of the past; instead, they were filled with a lazy, teasing satisfaction.

"Revered Master, good morning."

Su Ye wore a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, his voice clear and bright, as if he were truly greeting his beloved Revered Master.

If one ignored the mess on the floor and Yun Yuzhen's naked, pitiful state, this scene would be a perfect example of a loving Revered Master and a filial Disciple.

Yun Yuzhen bit her lip fiercely until she tasted the metallic tang of blood.

She wanted to curse, to rebuke, to use the most venomous words in the world to condemn this beast.

But when the words reached her lips, only powerless trembling remained.

"Rebel...lious Disciple..."

After a long while, she finally squeezed out these two words, her voice hoarse as if sanded by coarse paper.

Hearing this, the smile on Su Ye's face deepened.

He stepped forward slowly, his boots rustling softly on the torn gauze skirt.

He sat down by the bed, reaching out to touch Yun Yuzhen's cheek.

Yun Yuzhen jerked her head away, her waterfall-like black hair messily covering half her face, but it could not hide the overwhelming hatred in her eyes.

Su Ye's fingers hovered in mid-air, yet he showed no embarrassment.

He instead pinched Yun Yuzhen's chin, applying slight force to turn her head back, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"Revered Master, well said."

Su Ye's fingers caressed her delicate skin, his eyes revealing a morbid fascination. "Your Disciple is indeed a Rebellious Disciple, but Revered Master... weren't you also cured of your Cold Poison by this Rebellious Disciple?"

"Just kill me..."

Yun Yuzhen's eyes were bloodshot, two clear tears tracing down her cheeks. "Su Ye, if you have the guts, kill me now!"

"Kill you?"

Su Ye chuckled softly, releasing her chin and gently tucking the quilt around her, his movements so tender it was chilling.

"How could your Disciple bear to kill you?"

"You are the only Taiyin Sacred Body in the Taichu Holy Land, my most respected Revered Master, and also... my best Cauldron."

When he uttered the last few words, he whispered them softly into her ear, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe, sending a shiver through her.

Yun Yuzhen felt as if struck by lightning, her entire body stiffening, her face as pale as paper.

Cauldron.

These two words were the ultimate humiliation for a lofty Great Power of Tribulation Crossing Realm!

"Su Ye!!"

Yun Yuzhen finally broke down. She screamed, struggling desperately, causing the Dragon Trapping Formation to emit a series of hums.

"How dare you! How dare you treat me like this! I am your Revered Master! The Revered Master who watched you grow up!!"

Her voice was shrill and despairing, echoing through the empty Cold Jade Palace.

Su Ye watched her frenzy calmly, not a ripple of emotion in his eyes.

Only when her voice gradually weakened, reduced to low sobs, did he slowly speak.

"Revered Master, save your strength."

Su Ye stood up, clasping his hands behind his back, looking down at her from above.

"Rather than thinking about seeking death, you should consider how to handle yourself from now on."

His tone suddenly turned cold, carrying an undeniable pressure.

"After today, I will still be that gentle and refined Eldest Senior Brother, and you will still be that aloof and holy Peak Master of Purple Bamboo Peak."

"However, when no one is around, you can only be my forbidden plaything."

"You'd better not entertain any thoughts of rash actions."

Su Ye paced leisurely around the hall, his voice like sharp knives precisely stabbing into Yun Yuzhen's heart.

"You have lost all your cultivation now. If you make a scene and attract the attention of the Law Enforcement Hall Elders or other Peak Revered Masters..."

He paused, turning back with a meaningful smile.

"Revered Master, do you think it would be spectacular if the world saw you in this state, saw that your pure primal yin has been completely drained by your Disciple?"

"Wouldn't that scene be utterly captivating?"

"The once pure and aloof Fairy Yun, who kept everyone at a distance, was actually drained into a cripple by the Disciple she raised from childhood, right in her own bedchamber."

"Tsk tsk tsk, this would be a shocking scandal that could shake the entire Eastern Wasteland Cultivation World."

Yun Yuzhen's pupils trembled violently.

She imagined that scene.

Those Elders and Disciples who usually showed her respect, those various powerful figures who once admired her—if they saw her now, a ruined flower... that kind of gaze would be ten thousand times worse than death!

She was the face of the Taichu Holy Land, the faith of Purple Bamboo Peak.

If this matter were exposed, not only would she be utterly disgraced, but even the entire Purple Bamboo Peak, and the Taichu Holy Land itself, would become the laughingstock of the world.

"You... despicable!"

Yun Yuzhen trembled all over, her nails digging deeply into her palms until they bled.

She never expected that this Disciple, who once acted submissively before her, could be so scheming and profound.

He had calculated her fatal weakness.

He had calculated that even if she suffered endless humiliation, for the sake of her last shred of dignity, she would not dare to speak of this matter.

"Thank you for the praise, Revered Master."

Su Ye accepted it calmly, as if it were a compliment.

Watching Yun Yuzhen's expression—hating him to the bone yet powerless against him—filled him with immense satisfaction from his desire to conquer.

This was the pleasure brought by power.

What ethics, what respect for teachers and the Dao—in the face of absolute strength and leverage, they were nothing but jokes.

"By the way, Revered Master."

Su Ye seemed to suddenly remember something, his smile turning somewhat eerie.

He flicked his wrist.

A crystal-clear, faintly glowing jade stone appeared in his palm.

The stone was oval-shaped, with complex runes flowing across its surface—clearly a high-grade shadow recording stone!

The moment she saw this object, a sense of foreboding surged in Yun Yuzhen's heart.

"This is..."

She stared fixedly at the shadow recording stone, her voice trembling.

"It's nothing much."

Su Ye toyed with the shadow recording stone in his hand as if it were a rare treasure.

"Your Disciple thought that Revered Master's grace last night was too beautiful. Wouldn't it be a waste not to record it?"

"So, your Disciple took the initiative to record the entire process of our 'healing' session last night here."

Boom!

These words struck Yun Yuzhen like a bolt of Nine Heavens divine lightning directly hitting the crown of her head.

Her mind went completely blank.

Recorded... it?

Those humiliating moments from last night, those scenes that made her wish for death, and the shameful sounds she made under the influence of drugs and instinct when she could no longer endure... all of it, recorded?

"No... impossible..."

Yun Yuzhen shook her head desperately, her eyes filled with terror as if she had seen a ghost.

Su Ye smiled faintly and channeled a stream of spiritual power from his fingertip.

Buzz!

The shadow recording stone immediately erupted with brilliant light.

A crystal-clear light screen instantly projected into the air.

The scene displayed was precisely this Cold Jade Palace.

On that Cold Jade bed, a white dress lay torn, revealing skin fairer than snow.

And Yun Yuzhen... that usually aloof and dignified Revered Master, now had a flushed face and dazed eyes. Though she struggled, under the influence of the drug, her resistance seemed more like coy reluctance.

Even more damning were the barely suppressed, tearful gasps that echoed clearly throughout the hall.

'Su Ye... no... don't...'

'I beg you... stop...'

'Ah...'

That voice, seductive to the bone, was enough to drive any man wild.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

Yun Yuzhen let out a scream of utter collapse.

It was the nightmare she least wanted to face in her life, now laid bare before her eyes.

Shame!

An endless tide of shame engulfed her like a tsunami.

If the previous violation had destroyed her body, then this shadow recording stone had utterly shattered her Soul and dignity!

"Turn it off! Turn it off!!"

She shrieked hysterically, desperately trying to break free from the Dragon Trapping Formation's suppression.

Su Ye watched the scene on the light screen and clicked his tongue in admiration. "Revered Master, look, how lovely your voice was back then. How can you call it coercion? This is clearly a deep bond between Revered Master and Disciple, a harmonious union of Yin and Yang."

"Shut up! You beast! Shut up!!"

Yun Yuzhen trembled with rage, spitting out another mouthful of blood.

At that moment, perhaps extreme shame and fury had ignited her latent potential, or perhaps Su Ye had intentionally loosened the Formation's suppression slightly.

Yun Yuzhen lunged forward from the bed.

She cared about nothing now—her cultivation was gone, her dignity was gone. Only one thought remained in her mind—

Destroy it!

She must destroy that thing!

If this object were to spread, even if Yun Yuzhen died ten thousand times, she could never wash away this disgrace!

"Give it... to me!!"

Like a madwoman, disheveled and heedless, she lunged at Su Ye.

Su Ye stood in place, unmoving, not even showing any intention to dodge.

He allowed Yun Yuzhen to throw herself onto him, her delicate hands clutching desperately at the shadow recording stone in his grasp.

Yun Yuzhen exerted the last ounce of strength in her body.

Crack!

A crisp shattering sound rang out.

That incredibly precious high-grade shadow recording stone, under Yun Yuzhen's death-grip, finally gave way and shattered into countless fine particles.

The light screen in the air vanished instantly.

The shameful sounds also ceased abruptly.

The hall returned to a deathly silence.

Yun Yuzhen slumped to the floor, gasping for breath, clutching the jade powder tightly in her hands. Sharp fragments pierced her palms, blood mixing with the powder as it dripped, yet she remained oblivious.

Destroyed... finally destroyed... A sense of exhaustion, like that after surviving a calamity, washed over her.

She looked up at Su Ye, a flicker of satisfaction flashing in her eyes, even if it was pitifully insignificant.

"Heh heh..."

She laughed bitterly, her voice weak. "It's gone... Su Ye, you didn't expect this, did you... I destroyed that vile thing..."

"Even if you've taken me, so what? As long as I live, I won't let you succeed..."

She thought this was her final victory.

However,

the next moment,

she saw Su Ye's face.

That peerlessly handsome face showed none of the panic, anger, or astonishment she had anticipated.

Instead, there was only a mocking and pitying look, as if watching a clown.

"Destroyed?"

Su Ye raised an eyebrow, his tone so calm it was unsettling.

He looked down at Yun Yuzhen, slumped at his feet, as if observing an ant struggling desperately yet unable to escape his palm.

"Revered Master, you are truly adorable."

Su Ye slowly crouched down, reached out, and gently patted Yun Yuzhen's flushed cheek.

"Did you really think someone as cautious as your Disciple would only keep one copy?"

Yun Yuzhen's smile froze instantly on her face.

A chill shot from the soles of her feet straight to the crown of her head.

"You... what did you say?" she asked, trembling.

Su Ye leaned close to her ear and, in a whisper that seemed to come from a devil, enunciated each word clearly:

"Such an exquisite scene naturally deserves multiple backups."

"Revered Master, consider that one a small gift for you to vent your anger."

Pausing here, the curve of his lips widened to a cruel extreme.

"As for identical shadow recording stones..."

"Your Disciple probably has about ten thousand more in his storage ring."

Boom——!!!

In that instant,

Yun Yuzhen felt as if the entire world were collapsing.

Heaven and earth spun.

Ten thousand... ten thousand?!

That number, like a ten-thousand-pound hammer, smashed the last shred of hope and lucky in her heart.

"No... this is fake... you're lying to me..."

Yun Yuzhen muttered to herself, her eyes completely vacant.

She couldn't imagine what kind of hellish scene it would be if those ten thousand shadow recording stones were scattered throughout the entire Taichu Holy Land, throughout the entire cultivation world...

The image of the number one beauty of Taichu Holy Land, the noble and aloof Peak Master of Purple Bamboo Peak, yielding beneath her own Disciple, would be observed by countless people, commented on by countless lecherous Cultivators... "Whether I'm lying, Revered Master, you'll find out in due time."

Su Ye stood up, brushing the jade powder from his hands as if it were something filthy.

At this moment, in Yun Yuzhen's eyes, he was no longer a person.

But a complete and utter devil!

A demon who had dragged her into an endless abyss, ensuring she could never Turn over for eternity!

"You... you are a devil..."

Yun Yuzhen lay limp on the ground, her eyes lifeless, her tears long dried, leaving only boundless despair.

She knew she was finished.

Utterly finished.

With those ten thousand shadow recording stones in his possession, she would be reduced to Su Ye's slave for the rest of her life, subject to his every whim, without even the right to die.

Because if she died, or if she angered Su Ye,

this recording would become her final "legacy" left in the world.

Too cruel.

It was truly too cruel.

"Well, it's getting late."

Su Ye glanced at the sky outside; the sunlight was now blazing, illuminating the hall brightly.

But in Yun Yuzhen's eyes, this light was more piercing and colder than darkness.

"Your Disciple must go to the Main Peak to pay respects to the Sect Leader Senior Martial Uncle and report on Revered Master's 'secluded cultivation.'"

Su Ye straightened his robes, resuming his hypocritical gentlemanly demeanor.

He didn't even glance at Yun Yuzhen on the floor before turning and walking toward the hall's exit.

Only when he reached the main door did he pause, his back to Yun Yuzhen, and casually utter one final sentence.

"Revered Master, rest well here and recover your health."

"After all, the Taiyin Sacred Body is a rare Top-grade furnace in this world, and your Disciple hasn't had his fill yet."

"Tonight, your Disciple will return to 'treat your wounds.'"

After saying this,

Su Ye waved his sleeve.

"Buzz——!"

The Dragon Trapping Formation activated once more, intricate golden Array patterns glowing, forming an indestructible barrier that completely sealed off the entire Cold Jade Palace.

The Vermilion-lacquered Door slammed shut heavily.

Shutting out all light and hope beyond.

Inside the hall, only boundless darkness and silence remained.

"Su Ye... Su Ye!!!"

After a long while,

a shrill, utterly venomous and despairing roar erupted from the depths of the Cold Jade Palace, but it was firmly contained by the Formation, unable to escape even a whisper.

In the Purple Bamboo Forest, the wind rustled through the bamboo leaves.

Su Ye, clad in white robes, walked with his hands behind his back, his steps light.

Hearing the faint commotion behind him, the corner of his mouth curled into a Cold curve.

Taichu Holy Land, Purple Bamboo Peak.

From now on, it would be Su Ye's for the taking.

And this was only the beginning.

He looked up toward the towering Main Peak of Taichu Holy Land, a flicker of Dark magic light deep in his eyes.

It was the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art, restless with thirst for blood and power.

"Revered Master, this is just the beginning..."

"Ten thousand times, oh ten thousand times!"