“……”

Han Lie was momentarily speechless.

He had just returned less than fifteen minutes ago… and Ye Qingxuan had already sent word summoning him?

“Could this female demon lord have been waiting for me all along?”

The thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

With Ye Qingxuan’s cultivation level… at least everything around Violet Heaven Palace shouldn’t escape her divine sense perception.

However, Han Lie didn’t know why Ye Qingxuan was summoning him now either. The key point was… he had no choice but to go.

“Ai… truly no peace.”

Helplessly sighing, Han Lie could only temporarily abandon his plan to rest for a while.

On Violet Heaven Palace’s main hall throne, Ye Qingxuan sat gracefully and elegantly, wearing a purple gauze dress with an outer white gauze garment draped over it. Her smooth, long black hair was tied up elegantly.

An aura of nobility, elegance, and ethereal grace emanated from her presence.

She sat cross-legged, one leg over another, causing part of her gauze skirt on one side to drape aside, revealing long legs that sparked wild imaginations.

Han Lie stood over thirty meters away, looking from afar. A kingly, awe-inspiring aura pressed down on him, almost suffocatingly.

“What are you looking at? Don’t want your eyes anymore?”

Ye Qingxuan’s voice—as melodious as heavenly music yet cold as ice—came over, pulling back his wandering thoughts.

“Haven’t seen them before anyway…”

Muttering inwardly, Han Lie hurriedly knelt down on both knees, his voice hoarse. “Servant Disciple department’s Han Lie pays respects to Sect Leader.”

“Look up.”

Han Lie hesitated briefly but still followed Ye Qingxuan’s instruction, lifting his head. However, his eyelids remained slightly lowered, looking towards the ground, lest Ye Qingxuan—this female demon lord—go crazy again.

Staring intently at Han Lie’s weathered old face, full of the traces of time’s passage, Ye Qingxuan slightly frowned.

“What’s going on? Why does This Palace Lord increasingly find this old, lowly slave more pleasing to the eye?”

Not long ago, after finishing the bathhouse incident, Ye Qingxuan thought perhaps it was because she had just finished Dual Cultivating with Han Lie, causing a momentary illusion. But the current situation proved it wasn’t an illusion.

Before this, she clearly looked at Han Lie like garbage, yet now his appearance hasn’t changed much either.

Could it be because of the Yin Yang Demonic Art? Or perhaps because…?

Ye Qingxuan momentarily couldn’t figure it out, so she ordered Han Lie to approach, to come within five meters distance.

She re-examined Han Lie closely.

This time, she finally noticed some clues. Han Lie seemed to be emitting a special charm, attracting her senses unconsciously.

As to where exactly this special charm originated from, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t pinpoint it immediately.

But…

She smelled it.

She smelled the scent of another woman emanating from Han Lie’s body.

Ye Qingxuan narrowed her beautiful eyes, coldly asking, “From leaving the Vermilion Bird Squad office until just returning, where did you go?”

Facing Ye Qingxuan’s inquiry, Han Lie, without the slightest hesitation, naturally answered, “Reporting to Sect Leader, perhaps the night was too dark. This old servant momentarily lost his way.”

“If Violet Heaven Palace were not highly recognizable, perhaps This old servant would still be wandering outside aimlessly now.”

“Is that so?” Ye Qingxuan asked again, her tone carrying a slight warning edge now.

“Yes!”

Without any hesitation, Han Lie answered firmly and resolutely. He dared not say he was kidnapped by Zhuo Hongyi and slept with Zhuo Hongyi either.

Who knows how a fickle-tempered female demon lord like Ye Qingxuan would treat such a matter, anyway?

Whoosh!

Han Lie’s words were barely finished when Ye Qingxuan waved her sleeve casually—

A gust of forceful wind struck, sending Han Lie flying a dozen meters, finally crashing heavily to the ground. If he hadn’t taken the Life Extension Pill plus his recent cultivation improvements, his old bones probably would have shattered instantly!

However, Han Lie could sense that Ye Qingxuan didn’t exert real force. Otherwise, with his Qi Refining fourth layer cultivation, if Ye Qingxuan used the slightest bit of real power, she could send him to meet his ancestors instantly.

Han Lie struggled to stand up again, protesting, dissatisfied, “Indeed, it matches This Senior’s expectations! The Sect Leader made me extend my life and cultivate just to wait until my health was better, then torment me further, right?!”

“If so, even if you don’t kill me, This Senior will return to commit suicide himself!”

Previously, the reason he dared to speak to Ye Qingxuan like this was because he cared about nothing anymore.

But now, he didn’t want to die anymore, yet he couldn’t let Ye Qingxuan detect that he didn’t want to die anymore. Otherwise, if he let Ye Qingxuan realize he no longer wanted to die, his future situation would be worse!

Perhaps he would even be unable to lift his head before Ye Qingxuan anymore. Plainly speaking, he needed to extort Ye Qingxuan to secure at least a bit of dignity, right?

No need for face, but dignity?

Ye Qingxuan parted her vermilion lips, originally wanting to say something, but the words reached her throat and were forcibly swallowed back.

Originally, she wanted to reprimand him about the woman’s scent on his body. But doing so… wouldn’t she appear overly concerned about Han Lie? Or give Han Lie the illusion she had already chosen him as her designated partner?

Absolutely not acceptable!

Yet the scent of another woman on Han Lie’s body genuinely disgusted her.

Well, originally she was considering summoning Han Lie to Dual Cultivate and stabilize her realm; now it seemed unnecessary. She didn’t want to endure another woman’s scent while Dual Cultivating with Han Lie.

“Full of lies. This Palace Lord is merely administering a slight punishment. What grievances do you have?” Ye Qingxuan offered a relatively reasonable explanation instead. After all, currently, she truly didn’t want Han Lie dead.

“……”

Exposed directly by Ye Qingxuan, Han Lie felt somewhat awkward. But at least he confirmed two things.

First: Ye Qingxuan didn’t strike without reason.

Second: Ye Qingxuan currently indeed didn’t want him dead.

Then taking the hit was somewhat worthwhile.

“Then may I inquire, Sect Leader, what is the matter for summoning me today?” To avoid the discovery that he slept with Zhuo Hongyi, he hastily changed the topic.

Ye Qingxuan’s mind raced rapidly.

If she didn’t provide a reasonable reason… she would seem overly concerned about why he disappeared for the past period of time.

Absolutely unacceptable!

Within a mere few breaths, she found a reasonable reason and inquired, “The Yin Yang Demonic Art Yang Volume, have you mastered it?”

“Reporting to Sect Leader, fortunately, I have mastered it.” Han Lie answered truthfully.

Just exposed lying by Ye Qingxuan, he dared not lie further again. Moreover, whether he mastered the Yin Yang Demonic Art Yang Volume, given her cultivation level, couldn’t she tell anyway?

“This Palace Lord sees.”

Ye Qingxuan’s tone was indifferent, yet her words carried a trace of surprise. “Given your dull comprehension, actually truly mastering the Yin Yang Demonic Art is somewhat beyond expectations.”

Though unclear how he managed it, it was undoubtedly great news!