Translator: Fate Proofreader: Silavin Su Qingge was a quick-witted woman, and since she had decided to serve Gu Changge, she was definitely willing to cut all the ties she had with Ye Chen. This wasn’t even a question. As a fellow woman, Yan Ji, naturally, could fathom Su Qingge’s intentions, and she would’ve done the same thing were she in Su Qingge’s shoes. However, that was also the reason why she was disaffected. [Why does Chen have to be so hostile toward Prince Gu?] “Qingge, you’re lying to me, aren’t you? I don’t believe it!” In the palace, where faint smoke whirled in the air, Ye Chen was devastated as he pressed his forehead. He couldn’t believe that Su Qingge, who had always been emotionless, would say such intimate words. “Every word I speak is true, regardless of your belief. Please stop coming and troubling me. If Prince Gu were to see us together, I would have to explain everything to him…” She heartlessly uttered as her snowy face remained undisturbed. Now that she had said everything she needed to, if Ye Chen still persisted with his delusions, she could only engage. “Gu Changge must have cast some illusion on you! He’s from the Beyond, so this must be one of his tricks!” All of a sudden, Ye Chen regained his senses and loudly stated, gazing at Su Qingge with his somewhat reddened eyes. In that instant, his appearance resembled that of a beast. “You’re turning into a demon, Chen. Calm down!” Seeing this from the ring, Yan Ji hurriedly cast a Spell and summoned forth a chilly sensation in his mind to cool him down. “I can’t believe it…” Ye Chen roared in agony, perplexed by the behavior of the woman he had always admired. Following this, Su Qingge’s face grew colder as she pulled out her sword, getting ready to attack. Thump, thump! At that moment, they were interrupted by the banging of the palace doors, followed by a snicker. “Is Saintess Qingge here?” Standing in the doorway, Gu Changge appeared absolutely dashing in a black robe with an ambiguous smile on his face, figuring it was time for him to draw a strike, but of course, not by his own hands. Hearing the familiar voice, Ye Chen was obviously triggered as hostility and belligerence surged on his face. “Let’s go, Chen,” Yan Ji instructed from within the ring as she was obviously distressed. Although Gu Changge promised not to burden her, her helping Ye Chen escape the prison wasn’t exactly reasonable. Su Qingge, on the other hand, was dazed by the door-thumping as questions rose in her mind. [Why would Prince Gu come looking for me at such a time? No, based on his strength, he should’ve arrived a long time ago, and he chose not to show himself. He must be testing me! Whew…] As such, Su Qingge kept her thoughts simple. As she drew her sword, the enormous power of the Transcendent Realm surged on her blinding, icy blade. As swift as a hawk, she pierced it through the winds and blood began to flow. “Ah!” Ye Chen, who was about to leg it, screamed. Before he realized it, Su Qingge’s sword was already stabbing his chest. If it weren’t for his adept combat intuition that made him take a huge step backward at such a critical moment, her blade might have pierced through his heart. “This is bad. What a savage damsel.” Yan Ji did not see Su Qingge’s ferocity coming with how she attacked Ye Chen without any hesitation. Fortunately, being in a fine state of a Cursed Spirit, she quickly cast a Spell that shielded Ye Chen and hastily pulled him out of the palace. “What happened?” Sensing the disturbance, Gu Changge speedily walked into the palace as if he was baffled and shocked. “Prince Gu…” Su Qingge turned to Gu Changge with a serene expression. “I’ve let you down…” She could easily tell Gu Changge’s expression was only a pretense. In fact, he had been observing them in hiding the whole time. Out of nowhere, she felt a chill up her spine. If there had been a speckle of a flaw in her ‘performance,’ she would surely be thrown into the endless abyss as she was oblivious to the fact that Gu Changge was present—but in concealment—the entire time. Now that she realized he had been scrutinizing every single movement of hers, she couldn’t help but fear the man. “Never. You can never disappoint me,” Gu Changge, visibly joyous, said with a beam. “Really?” Su Qingge was rather skeptical. Although she had indeed sent Ye Chen a deadly blow, she didn’t expect him to evade it, which was why she worried that Gu Changge might think that she was feigning mercy. “Of course.” Gu Changge smiled. If Ye Chen was an easy target, he wouldn’t have made things so complicated. “Know this, it shall be a battle to the death the next time you meet. Won’t you regret it?” Su Qingge shook her head, “I’ve sworn my allegiance to you, so I, too, have foreseen this day would come.” “Very well.” As his grin remained, he nodded. Now that Su Qingge had thoroughly broken up with Ye Chen—becoming his nemesis, even—Gu Changge no longer saw any reason to be hard on her. After all, carrot-and-stick did all the trick. Besides, Su Qingge possessed an extraordinary amount of Fortuity, so her future wouldn’t be any less inferior. And so, Gu Changge hoped that Su Qingge would eventually obey him of her own accord, as opposed to how she was now submitting to him out of fear. “Don’t worry. It’s not a trial. I’ve always trusted you since the beginning. I merely wanted to observe the exchange,” Gu Changge stated with a subtle smile that carried traces of benignity before he pulled her into his embrace. Su Qingge stood still on the ground, and her body trembled as she flickered her jade-like eyes. It was her first time being so close to a man. Especially when an apathetic, fear-striking man like Gu Changge said such comforting words, she couldn’t help but feel flustered.