Chen Yi pressed in step by step, his figure growing larger and larger in her field of vision.

Yin Weiyin felt her soul fly out of her body; every step he took seemed to tread on her taut heartstrings. That steady sound of footsteps echoed through the Heart Lake World like a death-drum urging her to the execution ground.

A chill shot straight from her tailbone to her Heavenly Spirit Cover. Before her eyes, that half-smiling, half-not expression of Chen Yi’s surfaced, and past memories surged up in an instant.

She knew it far too well.

Every single time, as long as she so much as raised her tail a little, gathered a bit of momentum and tried to turn the tables and take charge, she would always be pressed back down by him in an even more forceful way that made her so ashamed and furious she wanted to die.

Memories of being pinned on the bed, on the desk, and even having chrysanthemum tea brewed in front of Yin Tingxue flashed by—indecent to the extreme; every struggle of hers only brought an even more thorough suppression...

She could even clearly recall those days, that low, teasing voice of his exploding beside her ear, making her whole body go weak, her lower half tighten, until in the end she could only whimper and beg for mercy...

"Hss..."

Yin Weiyin suddenly shuddered violently, all immortal poise gone without a trace.

"H-husband... this, this is a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding,"

Her voice trembled, her feet retreating again and again beyond her control as she tried to pull open some distance,

"I-I saw that she refused to comprehend her true heart, s-so I used this as a ploy."

He laughed, looking at her with a smiling gaze, his steps unceasing, as he slowly countered word by word:

"A misunderstanding? Weren’t you just about to use me as a cauldron for dual cultivation, to help your immortal path flourish forever?"

His smile was unusually gentle, yet it made Yin Weiyin’s hair stand on end.

"I-I..." Yin Weiyin’s tongue knotted. She instinctively wanted to explain, but saw Chen Yi’s smile unchanged as he closed in another step, the oppressive aura making her almost suffocate.

"Weren’t you going to be the master of this Immortal Palace and make me bow my head and call you Lord?"

"Didn’t you think I was unwilling to ascend and become Immortal with you?"

"Didn’t you..." The smile on Chen Yi’s face vanished in an instant. "Only remember the meat and forget the beating?!"

The last sentence cracked like a thunderclap.

"H-husband!"

Yin Weiyin let out a sharp scream. She could no longer care about any immortal bearing or Taoist Skill; she whipped around, turning into a streak of sky-blue radiance, and frantically fled toward the seemingly boundless borders of the Heart Lake World.

She drove all her Primordial Qi, desperately stretching the distance. Her mind spun at lightning speed, her guts turning green with regret.

The moves she’d made just now had clearly been a string of brilliant plays,

yet in the end, she was still one move short,

miscalculated!

She had intended to use this matter to first suppress Qin Qingluo, then use that to press him down a head, force him to soften and bow so that she could handle him easily in the future... How did it end up with such a blunder in the end.

Cold sweat beaded at the hair at the temples of the female crown as she streaked along in a trail of light. Ever since their marriage, not only had the two of them grown increasingly harmonious, but in daily life they were stuck together like glue. It had been ages since she’d offended him the way she had today. Precisely because of that, how could she not know the consequences? If he caught her... chrysanthemum tea? He’d probably stew it into chrysanthemum soup this time!

"Yin Weiyin!"

Behind her came Chen Yi’s icy voice, unhurried yet clinging like maggots to the bone, relentlessly in pursuit.

Yin Weiyin did not stop because of it. Instead, her body, like a streak of flowing light, shot faster and faster.

However, in the Heart Lake World, Chen Yi was the absolute master.

The very instant the thought moved, the calm lake surface ahead exploded. More than a dozen chilling Sword Qi streaks burst up from the water like lurking Jiao Dragons, tearing through the air with a shrill whistling. They wove into a dense, impenetrable sword net of misty blue that descended right over her head.

"Break!"

Yin Weiyin cried sharply. Her jade fingers flicked in rapid succession; several bolts of thunderlight shot out from her sleeve—Thunder Talismans, all of them—slamming into the sword net. They exploded with a roar, scattering into a sky full of electric threads.

Her figure moved like a butterfly flitting through blossoms, slipping past by a hair’s breadth through the narrow gaps between the lightning threads and Sword Qi.

Before she could even breathe out in relief, the solid ground beneath her feet suddenly collapsed. A tremendous suction force surged up, as though countless invisible hands were clutching at her ankles, trying to drag her down into the earth.

"Wind, rise."

Yin Weiyin chanted in a panic. A great wind suddenly lifted her up; her toes tapped lightly as her figure floated ethereally, like a true Immortal stepping on clouds. Her speed not only failed to drop but even increased.

"Still not stopping?"

As the words reached her ears, in the next instant Yin Weiyin turned her head and saw the towering Fir Forest on both sides begin to move without any wind. Countless pine needles detached from the branches, wrapped in invisible Sword Intent, and shot toward her like a storm, covering the sky and earth with such a range that there was no way to dodge.

Yin Weiyin dared not be negligent. She twisted around sharply, her wide sky-blue cloud sleeves flaring like a peacock’s tail. Immortal Light billowed, and in an instant a huge, semi-transparent light-umbrella opened before her!

The dense, rain-like pine needles slammed hard into the light-umbrella, ringing with an unending clamor of metal striking metal. Sparks flew in all directions. The light-umbrella trembled violently, the Immortal Light flickering uncertainly. Yin Weiyin’s face went pale; she was clearly supporting it with extreme difficulty.

She clenched her silver teeth and stomped a foot. The light-umbrella suddenly expanded outward with a boom, blasting the last wave of pine needles away. She borrowed the recoil, her figure shooting forward again like an arrow leaving the bowstring,

yet Chen Yi’s offensive was like a tide, rolling on without end, giving her no chance to draw breath.

Yin Weiyin had just broken free when a shadow suddenly loomed over her head. A giant palm formed entirely of pure Sword Intent came crashing down, vast enough to blot out the sky.

In this half a breath, Yin Weiyin no longer cared about immortal poise. She yanked out from her breast a stack of finely cut, plain white paper dolls. In an instant, countless paper dolls inflated, linking hands and feet together into a massive paper shield,

Boom!

The giant palm slammed fiercely into the paper shield.

A deafening blast resounded through the Heart Lake. Paper scraps flew everywhere. That seemingly fragile paper shield actually withstood this thunderous strike by sheer force. Though covered in cracks and on the verge of collapse, it did not shatter completely,

Chen Yi’s brows knit slightly. When had Yin Weiyin acquired such Taoist Skill?

Right now, his Sword Intent was cutting off her connection to the outside world; she clearly shouldn’t be able to realize whatever she wished.

The enormous recoil hurled Yin Weiyin violently outward. She used the counterforce to shoot away, not even looking back as she continued her mad flight toward the edge of the Heart Lake.

As long as she escaped this place and returned outside, she could again make anything she wished come to pass!

When that time came, Chen Yi...

He wouldn’t get to keep a single drop of his Cultivation!

Her hair was in disarray, her Sky Blue Palace Dress torn in several places. All her immortal grace had long since vanished; she was utterly bedraggled.

"Almost... I’m almost there!" She stared fixedly at the horizon ahead, a flicker of hope lighting in her eyes.

As long as she could leave here, escape his Heart Lake...

Yet just as she was about to reach the horizon,

a one-armed woman’s figure appeared soundlessly right in front of her.

Her left sleeve hung empty, her eyes half-lidded, yet as if they had already seen through everything.

It was the phantom of Zhou Yitang!

Yin Weiyin’s eyes widened. She simply stood there quietly, blocking the only path to life, like an insurmountable mountain.

The cold figure was reflected in the female crown’s pupils; the just-kindled flame of hope was instantly doused, leaving only a bone-deep chill. In that instant, she was so desperate she could have cried without tears.

Why is it her again?! Is Heaven out to kill me?

She froze on the spot, unable to advance or retreat, like a fish nailed to the chopping block.

Behind her, those death-urging footsteps came to a halt.

In the dead silence, Chen Yi’s voice, tinged with a hint of teasing, sounded like a ghost right behind her, close enough to touch,

"Not running anymore? Yin Weiyin?"