28: The Witch Queen's desperate gamble

At the edge of the square, Chu Ye stroked his chin, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

"Your Majesty," he poked the Empress beside him, "do you think... now would be a good time to have a heart-to-heart with that 'Witch Queen'? For example, chatting about the antidote, and while we're at it... chatting about life?"

The Empress glanced at him and said nothing, but her eyes clearly said: Looting a burning house, you really are a professional.

The Witch Queen returned to her bedchamber in a daze. Before she could even sit down, her surroundings changed abruptly; she had been abducted into the hundred phoenix diagram.

Facing this unfamiliar fairyland and the man and woman before her—the man handsome with a hint of cynicism, the woman possessing a cold, immortal-like temperament—they were indeed Chu Ye and the Empress.

Her eyes beneath the golden mask were as still as a deep pool, even revealing a hint of relief as if thinking, "It's finally happening."

"What do the two of you seek?" she spoke first, her voice clear and elegant.

Chu Ye smiled and pointed at the Empress. "This lady wants to unify the world. Since you govern the Western Regions, you're naturally on the list."

He paused, his gaze unashamedly sweeping over the Witch Queen's exquisite curves wrapped in her magnificent ritual robes several times before adding with a grin, "As for my personal goal... it's even simpler."

"I heard that the Witch Queen is as famous as my Empress here. I'm a curious person, so I just wanted to 'see for myself' exactly where... your reputations match."

Any fool could tell what kind of "seeing" he meant.

The Witch Queen fell silent for a moment then turned to the Empress, her tone complex. "Since we parted years ago, I knew your ambitions were not small. I just didn't expect it to come so quickly, and with such... cruel methods."

Her tone shifted, becoming certain. "Empress, you will not succeed. Even if you take the Western Regions, so what? The Central Region... will never allow the world to be unified. The power hidden there is beyond your imagination."

The Empress's response was to slightly raise her delicate hand. A vast and pure immortal power, transcending the mundane Emperor Realm, erupted forcefully, instantly filling this small world!

That was a power level truly belonging to an immortal!

For the first time, the Witch Queen, who had remained calm and composed, had her breathing falter behind her golden mask. Her body trembled almost imperceptibly as she cried out, "Immortal... You have actually stepped into the Immortal Realm?!"

"The trend of the world is that what is long divided must unite."

The Empress withdrew her Aura, her voice as cold as ever. "This is the Reincarnation of the Heavenly Dao. Unification is the only righteous path to end the chaotic times and gather Luck."

The Witch Queen recovered from her shock but shook her head with a sneer. "Nothing more than an excuse used by an ambitious person to gloss over their own desires."

"You poisoned thousands of my Western Region subjects; you will surely face divine retribution! I am the Witch God's proxy in the mortal world. Your actions have already provoked Divine Might!"

As she spoke, she actually made a move that neither Chu Ye nor the Empress expected.

Beneath the magnificent ritual robes, the "Witch Queen's" body suddenly softened and collapsed. Countless tiny, eerie black Gu swarmed out from the sleeves, collar, and hem!

In an instant, the large "exquisite body" transformed into a cloud of insects filling the air. All that remained of the "Witch Queen" was a pile of empty clothes on the ground.

The insect cloud emitted sharp screeches and, as if receiving a command, lunged toward Chu Ye and the Empress, blotting out the sky!

"Oh, a golden cicada shedding its skin? No, it's a Gu escape?"

Chu Ye raised an eyebrow, not panicking in the slightest. "Pity, in here, I'm the landlord."

With a slight thought, the rules within the hundred phoenix diagram manifested.

Before those hideous Gu could get close, they were strangled and purified by a rosy light that appeared out of thin air. Not even a trace of residue remained; they directly became nourishment for this small world.

The Empress tapped the Void Realm with her jade-like finger. Her immortal power circulated, tracing the residual Gu Aura and the ripples of Law left when the substitute dissipated.

After a moment, her beautiful eyes lit up. "Found her. Southeast, deep underground."

The hundred phoenix diagram opened a passage again, and the two instantly appeared in a secret chamber at the lowest level of the Witch God Palace, filled with ancient runes and thick poisonous smoke and Gu.

The real Witch Queen, dressed in even more complex and mysterious sacrificial attire with the same golden mask on her face, was sitting quietly in the center of a complex altar.

Behind her, a blurry phantom of the Witch God emitting a primal Aura slowly condensed. Around the altar sat twelve Witch Ancestors with profound Auras, all at the high-rank Great Emperor level, together forming a mysterious grand Formation.

Seeing Chu Ye and the other arrive, the Witch Queen slowly opened her eyes. The gaze behind the mask's holes was calm and rippleless, as if she had long expected this.

Her Aura was ethereal and misty, connected to the Witch God phantom. She had faintly stepped into a Realm similar to a "Pseudo-Immortal," and her power was still climbing.

"Hand over the antidote," the Witch Queen spoke, her voice ethereal yet carrying an unquestionable majesty, "or be buried here forever, your souls refined for ten thousand years, never to enter Reincarnation."

"Oh, quite the big talk."

Chu Ye picked his ear, not only unafraid but instead sizing her up with a grin. "However... seeing your sacred and inviolable look now, I'm even more curious. If you were on a bed, would you still be so... poised?"

"Presumptuous!" a Witch Ancestor roared.

The Witch Queen's gaze turned cold, and the phantom behind her raised its hand at the same time as she did.

The light of the Twelve Witch Ancestors' Formation surged. A majestic force mixed with the eerie power of the Witch God, like mountains and seas, came crushing down toward Chu Ye and his companion!

The Empress snorted coldly and stepped forward. Her immortal power erupted fully without reservation, forcefully clashing with the terrifying pressure gathered from thirteen top experts, including the Pseudo-Immortal Witch Queen!

The immortal light and witch power collided, not falling behind in the slightest!

Chu Ye, always one to enjoy a spectacle, casually threw the Immortal Rank Emperor Sword previously rewarded by the System to the Empress. "Catch! Use this to whip them!"

With the Emperor Sword in hand, the Empress was like a tiger with wings. As the sword light flickered, the immortal might grew even stronger, actually suppressing the opponents' combined attack by thirty percent!

Simultaneously, Chu Ye fully activated the hundred phoenix diagram.

The space of the entire secret chamber and even the surrounding large area began to twist and peel away. External Laws were rapidly isolated. The power of the hundred phoenix diagram was like a greedy maw, wanting to swallow this area and everyone within it into the world inside the diagram!

"Not good! He is cutting off our connection with heaven, earth, and the Witch God!" a Witch Ancestor said in horror.

Chu Ye grinned. "You noticed? Borrowed power is borrowed power after all. Once the power is isolated, let's see how you resist?"

Sure enough, as the isolation power of the hundred phoenix diagram strengthened, the Witch God phantom behind the Witch Queen began to fluctuate violently and fade.

The Pseudo-Immortal power bestowed upon her also receded like a tide.

A fierce glint flashed in the Witch Queen's eyes. Without hesitation, she bit the tip of her tongue, using her own essence blood and Divine Soul as a guide to perform an ultimate blood sacrifice for one last stand!

However, this was exactly the moment Chu Ye was waiting for.

The primordial tree embryo vibrated slightly, and a wisp of pure and vast Primordial Qi diffused out, instantly enveloping the entire scene!

This power, originating from the world's beginning, completely shielded all heavenly secrets and severed all connections between internal and external Laws!

"Pfft—!"

The twelve Witch Ancestors simultaneously sprayed blood, their Auras withering. They instantly fell from the Peak Emperor Realm to rock bottom, suffering severe backlash from the Formation.

The Witch Queen, who had her blood sacrifice forcibly interrupted, was even worse off. Her Aura plummeted like an avalanche, shocking blood overflowed from beneath her golden mask, and the flame of her life dimmed rapidly, on the verge of being completely extinguished.

"Holy crap! Don't!"

Chu Ye was truly anxious this time. He had caused such a stir in the Western Regions for so long and poisoned half the world—was it for a few Western Region raisins?

Was it for the poisonous grass covering the mountains and plains?

Of course not! It was for this mysterious Witch Queen herself, who had a rating of 99!

If she died, wouldn't all his work be for nothing?!