Outside the nine-story palace, the vast night sky was deep blue, with two or three stars sparsely visible, and a hazy fish belly blue was appearing on the distant horizon. After tossing and turning for half a night, the two finally lay down on the bed in the side hall, and the jade mandarin duck incense burner was emitting soothing incense.

I thought Yao Yue would lose her temper again after the lovemaking, but she was out of character tonight. Not only did she allow him to get on the bed, she also buried her head in his arms. Jiang Mi was even a little flattered. In the immortal realm, sleeping was no longer necessary, but Yao Yue needed to sleep occasionally, so he was happy to accompany her. The girl breathed slowly, bringing a slight airflow, gently tickling the muscles on his neck. Her delicate hands slid to his lower abdomen, and soon he heard the man's suppressed groan.

"Uh um... weren't you just complaining about being tired?"

——The finger was pressing on his dantian, transferring his energy to him. A tingling sensation came from his tailbone, and he reacted almost uncontrollably.

She chuckled, then after a moment she took her hand back and closed her eyes again, saying "sleep" and leaving him alone. Jiang Mi was a little depressed, but Yao Yue finally agreed to be close to him, so how could he bear to break this warm moment. Even when it was time to go to court at the hour of Si, he couldn't let go of this soft jade and warm fragrance, and it took all his willpower to get up from the bed.

It is conceivable how absent-minded Jiang Mi was during the morning court session. He did not hear anything that Ye Lian and the others were saying. All that was left in his mind was a sense of uneasiness:

Did Yao Yue understand him? Did she finally realize how much he loved her? Did she stay willingly? Did she... still like him a little?

After the court session, the Demon Emperor did not go straight to his bedroom as usual, because his heart was in turmoil and he could not calm down at all. On the one hand, he was looking forward to seeing her, but on the other hand, he was afraid that she would become cold and irritating again today.

It dragged on like this until dusk, when he finally walked back to his bedroom. It was very quiet outside the tall palace windows, and the sound of birds flapping their wings could be heard softly among the treetops. Behind the nine-layered red gate, the palace lanterns were lit up, and the candles in the main hall shed tears, reflecting the deserted palace. The gold bricks were sprinkled with pearls and jade, giving off a bit of gorgeous brilliance.

He saw the girl sitting by the window, looking out with her chin in her hand. She was wearing a scarlet dress with a thin belt tied loosely around her waist, which was a bit ambiguous. The ambiguous light and shadow under the candlelight made her jade-like profile look particularly quiet.

"Invite the moon..."

The girl seemed to have just heard the noise and turned to look at him with an inexplicable smile on her face: "Are you back?"

These words were exactly the same as those of a wife waiting for her husband to come home. Jiang Mi felt the blood rushing to his head. He was so excited that he immediately walked over and held her in his arms.

The next second, Yao Yue waved her hand as if waving away a fly: "Don't come over."

It was as if a basin of ice water was poured over his head, and the fire in his heart was completely extinguished. He stood there angrily: "Well, I won't go over."

The candlelight from the palace lanterns shone brightly, making the corners of the girl's lips glow red, and the color was so gorgeous that it seemed to be in full bloom. She was smiling, and the smile was very faint, but it instantly made him feel cold in his heart -

"Jiang Mi, have you ever thought about what to do with this Nine Palace Soul Locking Formation when your life ends?"

He was slightly taken aback, not expecting her to ask that, but it was something he had certainly considered.

"I will kill you first, and then use the Five Ghosts' Strategy to bury this bedroom directly under the imperial mausoleum..." Even if they become ghosts, they have to be together.

She didn't seem angry at this answer, and continued to ask with a smile: "By then, Xingyuan and Quanxing disciples will break into the imperial mausoleum, and you may not be able to stop them."

Most demon cultivators have shorter life spans than ordinary cultivators, and if they commit too many sins, they will be punished by heavenly thunder. Moreover, he has activated the soul contract twice to save her, so even if he has reached the immortal realm, his life span may not reach a thousand years.

"I..." Anxiety and violence suddenly surged up, and even the tip of his nose could feel the burning airflow when he breathed. He gritted his teeth and said, "I will take you to the Netherworld River. We have a soul contract, and we will meet again after reincarnation."

She suddenly burst into laughter: "Really?"

These two simple words are like an invisible boulder smashing into deep water, or like a silent waterfall splashing into the sky.

Jiang Mi's heart skipped a beat, and his face turned frighteningly pale in an instant.

The soul contract at Dantian...disappeared.

——It turned out that the purpose of being close to him last night was to erase the soul contract.

"I can only tolerate you for a few hundred years, and then I won't have to see you again."

Jiang Mi was originally standing, but he didn't know when he found himself kneeling on the ground. He felt as if he had been slapped hard in the face. He was completely dazed, confused and unbelievable. He had no strength in his body, his hands and feet were weak, as if he was soaked in cold lake water, his mind was blank, and his ears were buzzing.

Half of the girl's profile was hidden in the darkness, and she sat by the window looking down at him.

He was clearly the one at the top of his game, and he was also the one who had the upper hand, but the handsome and fierce face of the man was filled with an expression that could be described as pleading.

"No... Let's renew our soul bond... Let's... You can't do this... You can't do this to me..."

Jiang Mi actually couldn't hear what he was saying because he was extremely panicked and frightened. He was incoherent and his tone was filled with deep weakness and fear.

A soul contract can only be formed with the consent of both parties, but how can she be willing now?

Hundreds of gorgeous candles, the dancing flames reflected on the huge palace walls, outlining slightly trembling shadows. The hall was so quiet that they could only hear the slight crackling of the flames and the sound of each other's breathing.

"I am a star official, and I can still easily ascend to heaven in my next life. But you are a demon cultivator, and you have killed so many people. I am afraid you will be reincarnated as an animal."

——So beautiful, so cold, so vicious.

Yao Yue stared at him intently. No matter who was looked at by her like this, it would have an illusion of unreality, sweetness, and endlessness, but it was just an illusion.

"Don't use this cage to wear away the last bit of love between us. Opening the Nine Palace Soul Locking Formation is the last chance I give you."

Jiang Mi's heart beat so fast that it seemed as if every beat was about to jump out of his throat. The violent heartbeat exhausted all his strength, and his body was so heavy that he couldn't even lift a finger. The huge panic of watching the dark curtain of despair coming towards him, unable to struggle or escape, gripped his heart like an iron clamp.

After a long, long time, he finally looked up at her, his voice was frighteningly hoarse -

"You go now."

The nine-layered red door opened with a bang, and the girl's fluttering belt had already slipped gently from her hand. He turned his head and stared at her back as she walked away resolutely, as if he saw two people getting closer and closer from the other side of the world, intersecting and stitching at a certain moment, but after that brief moment, they would drift away endlessly.

Jiang Mi heard the rubbing of clothes and the sound of gentle footsteps, and then slowly, step by step, they walked away. If it was normal, the subtle sound might not be heard at all, but in this Nine Palaces Soul Locking Formation, it was so clear that it made people's eardrums hurt.

——She left, once again, without looking back.