Chapter 1: Return

At the royal airport in Europe, a young man wearing sunglasses slowly walked in. Sunlight shone on his slightly gaunt cheeks, and his deep eyes carried a hint of mystery. Many people noticed him; there weren't many people from Huaxia in this country, and the man's arrival attracted a lot of attention.

It had been over three years since he was last going to return to Huaxia. Though it wasn't a long time, many things had become somewhat blurred to him until he arrived at this airport, and memories from three years ago resurfaced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the flight to Huaxia is about to take off, please prepare," the announcement in the broadcast prompted the young man to stand up and walk towards the boarding gate.

"Sir, I'm sorry, please don't leave your bag in the aisle," a female flight attendant, with fluent English, disrupted the young man's thoughts. He looked up to see the flight attendant smiling at him. She seemed to be from Huaxia too; moreover, an exceptionally beautiful woman.

"I'm truly sorry, I'll pick it up right away." Ye Shikai stood up, picked up his bag, and curiously asked, "Are you also from Huaxia?"

"Yes," the woman was startled at first, not expecting Ye Shikai to suddenly speak in Huaxia.

Indeed, she is from Huaxia.

"That's quite a coincidence, I'm Ye Shikai." The man nodded and glanced at her name tag, realizing that her name was Tang Yun.

"Miss Tang, right?" Ye Shikai inquired.

"Mmm-hmm."

The two shook hands cordially, and Tang Yun pointed to the side, "Mr. Ye, I still have some duties to complete. If you need anything on the plane, feel free to ask for me."

"That would be great, thank you," Ye Shikai nodded in acknowledgment and after Tang Yun left, he sat alone looking at the scenery outside the window. After three years, he had finally returned to Huaxia, the place that held his memories.

He had achieved glory on this land, tasted the bitterness of failure, and it held many memories, too many, so much so that his head suddenly started to hurt.

"That's not good."

Suddenly, Ye Shikai felt a sharp pain in his chest, his eyes reddened, and a force within his body scampered through his meridians chaotically. He quickly circulated his inner strength to suppress this force, and his complexion gradually improved, the redness in his eyes disappeared. These were symptoms of Demon Addiction, a very rare condition. It wasn't a physical illness, but a mental one. As a cultivator, his Dantian harbored inner strength, but his body contained an uncontrollable force that usually lay dormant within his veins, almost imperceptible, but once Demon Addiction flared up, it would burst forth uncontrollably, making Ye Shikai extremely irritable, even losing his self-awareness, and doing things he couldn't control himself.

This mental illness was left behind in Huaxia, but since leaving the country, instead of healing, it had worsened. This mysterious force couldn't be expelled from his body with inner strength, behaving like a parasite, making Ye Shikai feel helpless.

"Here, you look pale, have some water." At this moment, Tang Yun handed him a cup of water; Ye Shikai did indeed look pale. If the Demon Addiction had really flared up, it could have been severe.

"Thank you." Ye Shikai hesitated for a few seconds before belatedly accepting the cup of water. These days, the frequency of outbreaks of Demon Addiction had subtly increased; this was not a good sign. Speaking of which, Tang Yun's care had given him a feeling of "warmth" that he'd long missed. Overseas, underground, he was a "king," the terrifying Netherworld King, commanding the Netherworld Palace filled with experts. Over these three years, it was "this power" that had carved out a place for him in the Underworld.

Members of the Netherworld Palace are his brothers and sisters, and he has always been a person of great loyalty, not to mention someone he has fought side by side with in life and death.

This time, the decision to return to Huaxia was partly to prevent the recurrence of Demon Addiction, so he planned to "wash his hands in a golden basin" and leave the Underworld, having grown accustomed to those days filled with crises and not wanting to be involved in those disputes anymore. The second reason, Ye Shikai took a letter from his pocket, written by his father's comrade Su Pengzhan, stating plainly that he hoped Ye Shikai would return to Huaxia and marry his daughter.

It sounded like an absurd thing, and Ye Shikai confirmed several times to make sure Su Pengzhan wasn't joking. His daughter is the president of a corporation and also holds the most shares, though he had not seen her photo, it was said she could be described as devastatingly beautiful.

It seemed no reliable father would marry off his daughter lightly.

For such an "absurd" action, Ye Shikai's choice was also "absurd"—he agreed, yes, after hesitating for three days, he truly agreed.

Several hours later, the plane slowly landed at Yanjing airport.

Ding ding ding.

As soon as he turned on his phone, a series of urgent rings sounded.

"Why did you come to Huaxia alone?" A chilly voice echoed in his ear, sounding as if it originated from the Nine-layered Cold Domain, yet Ye Shikai could detect a hint of concern and displeasure in the voice.

"I am here... to get married," Ye Shikai said, his voice laden with guilt and unease, especially the last part which he mustered the courage to say.

Several minutes of silence on the other end before finally, "Then I wish you, happiness," the voice carried desolation and sorrow, and after a few seconds, the call was disconnected. At this moment, in a luxurious manor somewhere in Europe, a woman with bare jade feet knelt on the cold floor, tears falling like broken pearls, her face filled with endless sadness, her frail body trembling slightly.

Ye Shikai sighed helplessly, looking into the distance. The caller was Ji Qian, also a Huaxia person and a stunning beauty. Ji Qian's identity was that of a wealthy woman, but few knew that her other identity was that of the Moon God, and like him, she was a powerhouse of the foreign Underworld. However, the things that happened between them couldn't be explained in a sentence or two. If it is said Ye Shikai hesitated for three days before making a decision, then two and a half of those days he spent thinking about how to explain it to her.

At that moment, a silver-white sports car slowly stopped in front of him, the car window rolled down to reveal a beautiful face—the person was Su Qingyu, the president of Tianya Group, watching the ethereally beautiful woman in front of him, Ye Shikai couldn't help but stare.

"Get in," Su Qingyu said coldly, expressionless; truly as her name implied, a devastatingly beautiful face paired with a frosty demeanor, indeed a true ice queen.

"Where are we going?" Ye Shikai curiously asked.

"To get the marriage certificate," Su Qingyu replied coldly, her fingers tightly gripping the steering wheel.

"We'll divorce in two months, I will give you twenty million."

"Why?"

"I am marrying you because of my father, and within a month I will speak to him personally."