The Widowed Demonic Lord Remarried Again?! - Chapter 1

The Demonic Lord Ruan Yibai had already worn wedding robes three times in his lifetime.

The first time, draped in a glorious obsidian and gold wedding garment, he married the Xuanwu Dynasty’s monarch most beloved by the common people, Emperor Xiao, becoming the very first male consort in the history of the Xuanwu Dynasty to be showered with boundless favor and affection.

The second time was at Emperor Xiao’s state funeral. Everyone was clad in white mourning hemp, save for him; with a black gauze veiling his face and wearing a magnificent, intricately patterned black robe, his beauty was so city-toppling that all living beings were intoxicated and entranced.

As he slowly walked past the front of the hall, ministers gasped and pointed at his spine, whispering viciously that he had been there for barely a year before Emperor Xiao inexplicably fell ill and died—truly a calamity incarnate whose peerless beauty demanded that he be buried alive alongside the late emperor!

Yet, before anyone could take action, First Prince Ye Ling, who had hurried back covered in the dust of travel, shoved Ruan Yibai right onto Emperor Xiao’s coffin. Defying the gazes of all present, he publicly declared that Ruan Yibai would become his one and only Empress for the rest of his life.

While the late emperor’s bones were still cold, his son had brazenly snatched his most favored consort right in the middle of court. Although scandalous and contrary to human ethics, the ministers, terrified of Ye Ling’s unbridled tyranny and cruelty, dared not speak their anger and ultimately shifted all the blame onto Ruan Yibai, branding him a seductress who ruined the state and an omen of misfortune!

Not long after, however, the new emperor Ye Ling noted for his swift, decisive, and ruthless methods mysteriously vanished without a trace, leaving behind no living body nor any corpse to be found.

In this realm, whoever ascended as the Human Emperor received the Mandate of Heaven and enjoyed a heavenly lifespan; hence, past emperors all possessed lifespans spanning hundreds or thousands of years. Yet, two successive emperors had met untimely ends after marrying Ruan Yibai, instantly cementing his reputation across the world as the ultimate bringer of death—the “Black Widow.”

As the saying goes, a widow’s doorstep is never free of gossip.

After Ruan Yibai left the imperial palace, rumors first spread through the streets that he was a venomous beauty whoever touched him died. Later, no one knew who started it, but salacious tales began circulating about having passionate, heavenly trysts with this alluring widow, detailing explicit postures and vivid mechanics with such realism that they almost seemed present, all unanimously claiming they had been seduced by Ruan Yibai…

Following that, more and more men claimed they couldn’t resist the temptation and had shared a bed with him, as if having a physical relationship with Ruan Yibai had become a badge of arrogant swagger and a capital for boastful display.

Spoken by thousands, falsehoods become truth.

Overnight, Ruan Yibai once again transformed into the most unchaste, promiscuous “widower” under heaven.

However, Ruan Yibai couldn’t care less about the gossip of these mortals. After all, across the Nine Realms of Wufan, he was the supreme ruler of the Three Scourges of Xuange and the dread of all cultivators—the Sword Demon Bai Ye!

As for the third time he donned wedding robes, it was after he suffered a cultivation deviation while practicing his demonic arts, waking up many years later as a corpse.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would wake up clad in bright red silk wedding robes, lying inside the bed of his mortal enemy, Ye Tang!!!

One hour earlier.

Having worked continuously for 72 hours in front of his computer, Ruan Yibai stared at yet another endless stream of incoming emails and finally snapped, cursing angrily: “I don’t want to work another single day at this damned job!!”

Colleagues already trained into submissive docility by capitalist exploitation raised their heads numbly to glance at him, then lowered their heads numbly to resume hammering away at their keyboards.

Ruan Yibai rose furiously. Before taking even a single step, he felt a violent, agonizing pain stab through his chest. He grabbed the edge of his desk, but his legs could no longer support his body. Files cascaded all over the floor as he collapsed, and consciousness instantly slipped away from him.

Faintly, he heard the wail of an ambulance siren, lights flickering between brightness and darkness before his eyes, and a breath so heavy it seemed there would never be another…

[System:] [Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the modern task and returning to the main storyline!]

A wave of memories crashed over him like a tidal wave, and he finally remembered: years ago, due to practicing demonic arts, he had suffered a cultivation deviation and reincarnated into the modern world. Now, because he was worked to death by a capitalist boss, he had rolled right back bringing along a… system?

The memories of his past life clattered and clanged inside his brain…

Subconsciously rubbing his head, his gaze caught the blazing red sleeves of his attire.

What is going on?! Why is he wearing such gaudy, bright wedding robes?!

Ruan Yibai stared blankly: What’s happening, where am I, and what on earth are these clothes for?

[System:] [The host’s demonic arts have reached perfection, and you have returned to your original world! You have successfully acquired an invincible, cute, obedient, sensible, exclusive high-definition customized system—which is me! Tada! Please take good care of me from now on.]

Returned to the original world… an exclusive system?

Ruan Yibai blinked.

Though this system… seemed somewhat improper?

Unable to accept it just yet, someone protested: “Wait a minute… let me sort this out. This so-called ‘demonic arts reaching perfection’ wouldn’t happen to mean I come with a built-in system?”

[System:] [That’s one way to put it. After all, from the perspective of the original world, a built-in system is quite difficult to explain logically. That’s why you were sent to the real world. With your 25 years of life experience there, you should completely understand what I am.]

Ruan Yibai almost felt like applauding: “…Are you guys getting this competitive just to self-produce un cliché reasons?”

[System (shyly):] [Host, you know how it is. These days, transmigration without a few extra elements is tough to survive in. When you read web novels yourself, didn’t you always love picking system novels?]

Ruan Yibai choked slightly. Although he was just a corporate slave in the real world, in his spare time he still loved playing games and reading web novels—games leaned toward Xianxia, while web novels were all about systems.

He never expected that today he would actually get a system of his own!

The crucial point was: while to others this situation might look like transmigrating into a book, to him it was returning to his original world; his 25 years in the reality-based world felt like a fleeting dream of Zhuangzi.

Softly smoothing his emotions, he looked out into the void:

“So, as my system, what can you actually do?”

[System (feigning deep thought, pushing up glasses with a single hand):] [I can do anything.]

Ruan Yibai froze: “Oh? For example?”

[System (bashfully):] [You know.]

Know my ass!

The corner of Ruan Yibai’s mouth twitched. He decided it was best to figure out where he was first; otherwise, this bickering would never end.

[System:] [Our current location is Lanquetian.]

Oh, Lanquetian.

He leaned gracefully against the edge of the bed, with nonchalant indifference.

True to cliché, this world remained divided into three realms.

The upper realm was called Lanquetian—simply put, a gathering of immortals who practiced Daoist magic and ascended; the lower realm was called the Nine Realms of Wufan—as the name implied, a domain of demonic cultivators and sorcerers whom worldly people viewed as heterodox and evil. Sandwiched between them was the mortal realm, home to the hardworking, diligent common masses.

However, whether immortal cultivators of Lanquetian or demonic cultivators of the Nine Realms, at the end of the day, they were all “mortals” who took unconventional paths and carved out different destinations.

Thus, the Three Realms remained fundamentally centered on humanity, maintaining mutual checks and balances.

There was an unwritten rule between Lanquetian and the Nine Realms—unspoken, yet universally acknowledged by all: humanity comes first, and must never be disrespected!

No matter how earth-shatteringly powerful your ascension or demonic fall might be, you were forbidden from showing disrespect to the mortal realm. Whoever dared touch the mortal realm became the public enemy of the Three Realms!

It was much like how no matter how successful a son became, he could never disrespect his mother, nor allow others to bully her.

Yet the two sons namely Lanquetian and the Nine Realms had always been locked in bitter rivalry, acting like fire and water, mutually disgusted with one another, and prone to breaking out into massive-scale immortal-demonic wars at the slightest disagreement!

In the past, the grand demonic overlord whom all demons of the Nine Realms bowed before was none of other than Ruan Yibai.

As for his mortal enemy, or rather, his destined nemesis the supreme sovereign of Lanquetian his identity was uniquely scandalous: he was the younger brother of Ruan Yibai’s former husband Ye Ling, and the son of his former-former husband Ye Xiaocheng. Revered by the world as the supreme Golden Immortal and the Yaoquang Immortal Lord: Ye Tang!

[System:] [Above is your brief popular science lesson.]

At this moment, Ruan Yibai lay calmly on the couch and smiled: Hah, mere Lanquetian, nothing to.

[System:] [To be precise, it’s the Chamber of Yue Luo Wu Ti in Lanquetian.]

Ruan Yibai: ?

He sat bolt upright from his deathbed!

Where are my shoes?! Let me run for my life, right now!!!

[System:] [Wait, host, didn’t you just say Lanquetian was nothing to fear?]

Ruan Yibai: Because Yue Luo Wu Ti is the old lair of that madman, you idiot!

[System:] [Madman? Are you referring to…]

Ruan Yibai: Who else could it be? Ye Tang, that pervert! By the way, why am I here?

[System (twiddling fingers):] [Well, you see, host… Yaoquang Immortal Lord Ye Tang just married your corpse.]

Ruan Yibai: ???

Ruan Yibai: You… say that again?

[System:] [Ahem… Yaoquang Immortal Lord Ye Tang just married your corpse.]

Hiss!

What kind of world-shaking, boundary-pushing phrasing was this?!

Wait a second, does that bastard Ye Tang have a necrophilic fetish?

When did he catch this disease? Is there a cure?!

Before he could recover from the shock, he heard the sound of someone pushing the door open.

The world suddenly looked as though a filter had been applied, obscuring reality!

The newcomer wore wedding robes matching his own. His physique was perfectly proportioned and slender, his bearing imposing yet carrying a pristine, unapproachable chill amidst his elegance.

Though dressed in blazing scarlet robes, he radiated an air of desolate purity that swept away all worldly dust, compelling gazes to linger upon him helplessly.

That proportion of long legs and a slender waist was so exquisitely breathtaking it made one drool…

His profile was as refined as a masterpiece sculpted by an elite high-definition character designer in a game the kind where players chased you down the street asking for your face-preset code!

Yet, this face… why did it look more and more familiar?

Damn, why does he look exactly like that bastard Ye Tang?!

Only then did Ruan Yibai snap back to reality. Twenty-five years had passed, and he had actually stared at Ye Tang in a daze just now?!

No, what is this scumbag doing undressing?!

Could he really be planning to…

A surge of hot blood rushed to Ruan Yibai’s head. He raised a hand to hack the intruder, only to discover not a single wisp of spiritual power flowing through his body. Moreover, because he exerted too much force, he awkwardly tumbled right onto the other person’s feet!

Ruan Yibai widened his eyes: Where is my spiritual power?!

[System:] [Because the host suffered a sudden death in the real world, your true essence leaked out, leaving your cultivation completely wiped out. But don’t worry, you can recover your spiritual power through dual cultivation.]

Ruan Yibai stroked his chin: Oh, I see. Dual cultivation will do it…

A moment later, his brain caught up.

You—you—you—what did you say?!!!

[System:] [The recovery progress depends on the intensity of the dual cultivation.]

Ruan Yibai: ???

Turns out you’re that kind of system?!

And here you said my demonic arts reached perfection? Are you playing with me?!

[System:] [The host’s demonic arts really did reach perfection, otherwise I wouldn’t have appeared! But the return of spiritual power requires a starting key; otherwise, gushing spiritual power like a waterfall would crush your newly resurrected body right back into pieces.]

Ruan Yibai’s mouth twitched: You actually use “key” to describe this kind of thing… vivid and graphic, truly your style! So as long as I dual cultivate with someone once, my spiritual power will return?

[System:] [Once is naturally not enough, after all, the host is one of the supreme powerhouses of this world.]

Ruan Yibai paused: So?

[System:] [Simply put, the more and longer you do it, the stronger the host’s spiritual power becomes, bringing you closer to the threshold value and thus returning to your peak!]

Following that, the system displayed a glowing golden progress bar in the void—a long, brilliantly shimmering line that, hollowed out from within, currently read 0.00%…

[System (cheerfully):] [A normal bout of affection can add 0.01% आयुष्मान.]

Ruan Yibai gasped, holding his head: Your two-decimal-place setup is going way too far, okay?! And what on earth is ‘affection’ supposed to mean?!

[System (shyly):] [Host, you know how it is. It means unspeakable scenes.]

Well, having lived in the real world for 25 years, he naturally understood what unspeakable meant, but…

Ruan Yibai: A single unspeakable session only gives 0.01%? Good grief, even a hundred sessions would only be 1%…?! Which heartless bastard came up with this bullshit setting?!

[System:] [Quite the opposite, host! We don’t play those tacky games of farming favorability or drawing cards; our main feature is honesty and sincerity! As long as you do it enough and long enough, recovering your spiritual power is just around the corner. When that time comes, wanting to crush the heavens and earth will be a matter of a single thought! A great hero can bend and stretch, to be the bottom… means you can take even more!]

Ruan Yibai’s pupils dilated in earthquake: What kind of egg-cracking setting is this, who am I supposed to find for this recovery right now?!

[System (calmly spotlighting):] [Ahem, isn’t he right in front of you?]

“A-Ruan?”

Hearing that voice, Ruan Yibai lifted his chin and locked eyes with those pupils as dark as ink from his memories.

Whether due to the long separation or not, those eyes seemed laden with countless complicated, unspeakable emotions, swirling like a pool of water stained dark with ink.

Just a single droplet instantly overran everything.

Ye Tang.

His heart skipped a beat.

The brilliance of a clear moon, standing pure and independent.

Yaoquang Immortal Lord Ye Tang.

The supreme Golden Immortal, cold and aloof, of dazzling immortal grace.

The premier Immortal Lord of Lanquetian, the sole recognized sovereign of the Five Peaks of God Mountain, universally revered by all under heaven and hailed as the divine radiance.

Over the past hundred years, their identities had stood in opposition; one demonic, one saintly, they were as irreconcilable as fire and water.

In his memory, Ye Tang always stood proudly among thousands of immortal cultivators, a robe of moon-white immortal immortal garments rippling across mountains and rivers, making heaven and earth pale in comparison, accompanied by a divine artifact, Moon Shadow, which shifted like gilded crescent moons or sickle blades, ethereal, illusory, and breathtakingly gorgeous…

“A-Ruan…”

Pulled back to his senses once more by that voice, Ruan Yibai frowned at the person before him.

Hah, bastard, years apart and you still put on this harmless, good-looking facade! As expected of the dream lover for men, women, and children across the entire cultivation world!

Thinking of this, his anger flared even higher. Furrowing his brows, he stared with displeasure at the Immortal Lord before him and snapped: “Since when is the name A-Ruan for you to use?”

To his surprise, the other party remained unfazed. He simply stared fixedly at him for a long moment, then leaned down to lift his chin, his gaze lacking its previous solemnity: “Then what should I call you”

Leaning close to his ear, he asked slowly and with a hint of provocation:

“Imperial Consort… or Sister-in-law?”

Ye Tang deliberately pronounced every single syllable with excruciating slowness, as if savoring some past memory.

Ruan Yibai swallowed hard, feeling the other’s fingers somewhat cool and astringent against his skin.

This bastard’s fox tail was finally showing. Before the world, he was the universally adored, saintly, and pure Yaoquang Immortal Lord; the supreme Golden Immortal who cared for the world and salvation; the pristine, untainted master of Lanquetian!

Noble beyond compare, invincible beyond measure.

Only he, Ruan Yibai, knew that Ye Tang was a pervert!

A total pervert!!!

[System (gossip soul ignited):] [Like, how perverted? Host, can you elaborate?]

“Still, since we just went through the wedding ceremonies, looking at it now, calling you my wife right now seems much more appropriate, don’t you think?” Ye Tang’s fingers stroked lightly across Ruan Yibai’s lips before he suddenly turned his head and spoke at a rapid pace: “The ceremony’s done, let’s not waste it. Let’s consummate the marriage first.”

The ceremony’s done, let’s not waste it. Let’s consummate… the marriage first?

Listen to yourself, is that human speech?!

Ruan Yibai slapped Ye Tang’s hand away: “Audacious! In the past, your imperial father and imperial elder brother both treated me with utmost courtesy, and yet you dare?!”

With his hand batted away, Ye Tang directly reached out, grabbed Ruan Yibai’s wedding sash, wrapped it tightly around his own hand, and looked down at him from above: “Why wouldn’t I dare?”