The Empress Returns: A Thousand Hearts Bleed

Chapter One: A Bloodstained Wedding Across the nine heavens of the Xuanhuang Realm, red silk streamed for thirty thousand miles. Today was the engagement ceremony of the ruling Empress Qian Mengxin and her childhood sweetheart, Mo Xuan. Seventy-two sky-reaching towers rang out with celestial music, while powerful figures from every realm arrived on auspicious clouds to present lavish gifts before the steps of glazed jade. "The Empress has arrived!" At the master of ceremonies’ call, Qian Mengxin emerged slowly in a crimson phoenix gown embroidered with gold. In the rosy light, a hundred thousand nirvana crystals on her wedding dress glimmered with every step, as though she had draped the sunset around herself. She gazed toward the figure in a silver robe and jade crown at the far end of the jade steps, warmth rippling in her eyes. "Why is Brother Xuan spacing out?" Qian Mengxin lightly tapped Mo Xuan’s brow. The lovesickness bell at her wrist rang clear and bright. The bell, woven from strands of their hair, had never left her side in three hundred years. Mo Xuan suddenly seized her wrist, gripping it with astonishing force. "I’m counting my heartbeats." Emotions she couldn’t understand surged in his eyes. "I’ve waited so long for this moment." As Qian Mengxin turned to face the immortals, disaster struck. "Thank you all for coming to our engage, " Blood blossoms suddenly bloomed across her gown. The tip of a sword, glowing a ghostly blue, pierced through her heart. On its blade, tempered with ten thousand years of deadly cold poison, she saw Mo Xuan’s face twisted in a cruel smile. "Is that... the Godslayer Sword?" Qian Mengxin staggered around, her wedding dress dragging a winding trail of blood. She stared at the sword Mo Xuan drew from her body. The fine runes etched into it were the very heart-protecting spell she had carved herself. Mo Xuan flicked the blood from the blade and sneered. "I have you to thank for teaching me how to break the spell." He suddenly pulled Meng Ting, who had been standing nearby, into his arms, "