THE DEMON EMPEROR REBORN AS A SERVANT

Chapter 3: The Demon Emperor's Final Smile

The Golden Sun Emperor's giant sword cut through the air with deadly speed, aimed straight for Xiao Chen's neck. The wind from the slash was so sharp it grazed the Demon God's skin, drawing a thin line of fresh blood.

But before the divine steel blade could sever his head, time itself seemed to stop.

The temperature in Skull Valley, which had been boiling with a spiritual storm, suddenly plummeted far below absolute zero. The storm itself froze in mid-air. Snowflakes, shining like diamond crystals, began to fall from the dark sky.

The Golden Sun Emperor's eyes widened. He summoned all his remaining Qi, but his giant sword was held fast in the air, encased in a layer of steel-thick ice that was rapidly creeping up his arm.

From behind a curtain of gracefully falling snow, a woman descended. She wore a crystal-blue robe that radiated a cold light. Her face was so perfect it seemed sculpted by the gods, but her expression was as cold as an eternal glacier. Her sapphire-blue eyes gazed upon the destruction in the valley without a ripple of emotion.

The Ice Isle Emperor. Mei Ling.

Her presence brought an absolute pressure of natural law. The two White Sect Emperors who had been severely injured by Xiao Chen's slash and were crawling closer to claim what was left of the glory, suddenly stared in horror.

Mei Ling didn't even look at them. She simply flicked her slender finger.

KRAAAK!

In the blink of an eye, the bodies of the two injured Emperors froze into transparent ice sculptures. The next moment, a snowy wind blew past them, and the two Emperor-level entities shattered into glittering ice dust, disappearing without so much as a scream.

The Golden Sun Emperor and the five remaining Sect Elders retreated in unison. Their legs trembled so violently their knees knocked together. They looked at Mei Ling as if they were seeing the true grim reaper.

"I-Ice Isle Emperor!" the Golden Sun Emperor cried out in a hoarse voice. "What is the meaning of this?! We are executing a vile demon in the name of the White Sect's Justice! You... you cannot interfere!"

Mei Ling landed softly on the rocks, not far from Xiao Chen's blood-soaked body. She turned her cold face towards the Golden Sun Emperor. Her gaze was utterly soul-crushing.

"I'll give you time..." Mei Ling's voice was melodic but carried a deathly chill. "Ten seconds. Disappear from my sight, or become an eternal ice statue in this valley to accompany the silence."

"B-but he has the Scripture..."

"Nine."

"Ice Isle Emperor, you defy the entire White Sect if you..."

"Eight. Seven."

The air around the Golden Sun Emperor began to freeze, forming ice crystals on his robe. Realizing with panic and horror that this woman was just as mad and arrogant as Xiao Chen, the Golden Sun Emperor turned without hesitation.

"Retreat! Everyone, retreat!" he screamed hysterically. He shot into the sky using his remaining Qi, fleeing like a terrified dog, followed by the five Sect Elders who scrambled away behind him.

In just a matter of seconds, the valley that had been filled with the clamor of slaughter fell silent again. Only the sound of the gently howling snow wind remained.

Mei Ling turned. She walked towards Xiao Chen. The coldness in her eyes slowly cracked as she saw his condition up close. A severed right arm, blood flooding the ground, and a legendary sword impaling his chest, stabbed by his own disciple who now lay lifeless beside him.

This was the man who had once made the entire Holy Realm tremble. The man who stood at the pinnacle of martial arts, now shattered into the ruins of tragedy.

Xiao Chen, still on his knees, forced his head up. His vision was extremely blurry. His breathing sounded like wet paper being torn. But when he saw the crystal-blue figure, a soft, hoarse laugh escaped his bloody lips.

"Heh... you... you're late... Ma'am..." Xiao Chen chuckled, which was immediately followed by a violent cough of blood.

Mei Ling furrowed her brows, looking straight at the dying man. In the midst of this tragic situation, she replied with an incredibly flat and cold tone.

"Address me correctly, Xiao Chen. I am not married."

Xiao Chen was stunned for a moment by the absurd response, before he burst into louder laughter. A pure laugh, as if he had just heard the best joke in the world.

"Hahaha... you... you're still as stiff as an ice cube, Mei Ling..." Xiao Chen gasped for breath. "But, strangely... I'm glad your ice-cold face is the last thing I see."

Mei Ling didn't answer. She knelt in front of Xiao Chen, ignoring how her blue robe was now stained by the pool of blood on the ground. Her snow-white hand reached out, trying to channel pure Ice Qi to freeze Xiao Chen's wounds and stop the bleeding.

But Xiao Chen raised his remaining left hand, gently pushing Mei Ling's hand away.

"It's too late," Xiao Chen whispered. "My Dantian has been destroyed. My soul has been burned away by the 9 Hells technique. Don't waste your energy."

Mei Ling pulled her hand back. She clenched her fist so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Why didn't you call for me sooner? If you had sent me a soul message when you were surrounded, I would have come to help you. I know the White Sect has been rotten from the inside for a long time."

Xiao Chen looked into those sapphire-blue eyes. He saw a flicker of regret there.

"This... was my fight," Xiao Chen answered softly. His emperor's ego remained intact even as his body was destroyed. "I don't need pity. Especially not to involve you in... this bloody feud. You... are too pure to be dragged into my filthy world."

Mei Ling fell silent. An internal battle raged within her. She hadn't come here for an alliance, or for a legendary scripture, but because she respected Xiao Chen as the only true warrior left in their generation. This man's death was a great loss to the pillars of the Holy Realm.

Sensing his life was down to mere seconds, Xiao Chen refused to die on his knees. Not before the heavens, not before the earth, and not before this woman.

With a will that surpassed the limits of human sanity, Xiao Chen gripped the hilt of Jian Ying's sword still embedded in his chest. He used the very sword piercing his own flesh as a support.

"Xiao Chen, don't move!" Mei Ling exclaimed, her eyes widening at his madness. "You'll hasten the destruction of your heart!"

Xiao Chen didn't care. He gritted his teeth against the unimaginable pain as the blade shifted inside his chest. The muscles in his legs and left arm tensed. With a low groan that shook the soul, he forced himself to stand.

Fresh blood sprayed out again, staining the snow around him.

But he succeeded. He stood tall, towering even as his body swayed in the stormy wind. Xiao Chen gazed across the expanse of Skull Valley, then looked down at Mei Ling, who was still kneeling below him.

In that moment, all the hatred, all the arrogance of the Demon God, and all the rage that burned his soul seemed to evaporate with the snowy wind. The tyrant's mask crumbled, leaving the face of a man who had finally found freedom from the curse of his vengeance.

Xiao Chen looked at Mei Ling, and then his lips curved. He smiled. Not a condescending demonic smirk, not a terrifying wild laugh. It was a completely sincere, gentle, and peaceful smile. An expression no one in the Holy Realm had seen for hundreds of years.

"Thank... y..."

The words were never finished.

The light in Xiao Chen's pupils dimmed and went out. His body grew rigid. The snowy wind blew his torn black robes, but the man remained standing, a monument to eternity. The Demon Emperor had passed, dying on his feet, preserving his pride until his very last breath.

Mei Ling still stared at the now-frozen face. Her defenses finally broke. From her ice-cold blue eyes, a single tear fell. It rolled down her pale cheek, froze into a small diamond-shaped crystal in the air, and fell with a soft clink onto the blood-soaked ground.

She, the Ice Isle Emperor who was said to have no emotions, wept for the death of a demon.

Mei Ling slowly stood. She looked at Xiao Chen's peaceful face with mixed feelings. Her hand rose to her own neck, removing a necklace with a transparent jade-shaped relic that emitted a faint golden light. It was the Ice Samsara Jade, the supreme soul-protecting relic of her lineage.

"Sleep well, True Warrior," Mei Ling whispered, her voice trembling.

She placed the relic around Xiao Chen's frozen neck. The touch of the relic emitted a small warmth in the middle of the ice storm.

Mei Ling took a few steps back. She raised her hands, channeling her Qi. The air in Skull Valley responded. Dozens of meters of snow slowly lifted, swirled, and enveloped Xiao Chen's body, forming a gigantic, transparent glacier. She gave the legend the best burial, an eternal ice tomb that no one could penetrate, protecting his body from being desecrated by the hypocritical Emperors.

"This rotten world doesn't deserve its greatest warrior, Xiao Chen. Rest in peace, wait for me in eternity!" Mei Ling murmured, turning and slowly disappearing into the snowstorm.

The blizzard raged fiercely in Skull Valley. The giant ice tomb stood firm in the terrifying silence.

Inside the frozen ice, the Ice Samsara Jade necklace on Xiao Chen's corpse suddenly reacted abnormally. The relic detected the remnants of the Emperor's incredibly strong soul, which had not been completely destroyed thanks to his absolute fighting will. Colliding with the extreme Yin energy from Mei Ling's ice and the spatial instability from the previous Emperor-level battle, the relic began to glow brighter and brighter.

A dazzling golden light exploded inside the block of ice.

The laws of space and time around the tomb trembled violently, then shattered into pieces. A black hole, as small as a needle, appeared, but its suction specifically drew only the invisible wisps of soul left from Xiao Chen's body, swallowing them across the boundaries of the universe's dimensions.

Instantly, the silence of the ice tomb faded, replaced by a chaotic shift in sensory perception.

Space twisted. Time warped. And then...

SRAAK! TRANG!

The fragrant scent of Mei Ling, the Ice Isle Emperor in Skull Valley, vanished instantly, replaced by the pungent, metallic smell of fresh blood. The roar of the blizzard disappeared.