Villain: Her Imagination Makes Me Invincible

Chapter 34: Empress of the Cangyun Empire, Yu Youyou

The golden space resembled the first layer in some ways, vast and boundless. However, the feeling was different—this wasn’t like being inside a sphere but rather standing above the clouds.

Below and above were both skies—golden skies, golden clouds. It wasn’t the reddish-gold of a sunset but a pure, radiant golden hue—majestic and breathtaking.

After Ling Xue arrived, his gaze swept the area, and soon, he spotted something. Not far ahead, atop a golden cloud, radiating like a golden sun, was a throne.

On that throne, a person sat quietly—a woman, adorned in imperial robes.

She sat there, dignified, graceful, and regal, but her body was somewhat translucent, revealing her as a mere soul.

At this moment, she too was looking at Ling Xue, with a gentle smile on her face.

Ling Xue briefly pondered, and if he guessed correctly, this must be the owner of the tomb— the first emperor of this ancient empire. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a female emperor.

“Fate has brought you here,” the empress began speaking, “Young man, a great mission is about to befall you!”

Her voice was calm and steady, but it conveyed a sense of forced composure.

“I… ahem … I am the first emperor of the Cangyun Empire, Yu Youyou!”

The empress continued, “Mortal, state your name!”

Hearing this, Ling Xue’s eyebrows twitched slightly, but he didn’t respond.

Mortal? You’re just a soul, where do you get the nerve to speak to me like this?

Ling Xue immediately began walking toward her.

“You… What are you doing?” Across from him, Yu Youyou frowned, her delicate face showing a hint of panic, a stark contrast to her forced calm demeanor.

“Cangyun Tianshan, the Cangyun Empire!” Ling Xue walked right up to her, “Female emperor? Are you really her?”

“Of course, I am… I mean, yes, I am the emperor! Is there a problem?” Yu Youyou quickly replied.

“Stand up!” Ling Xue commanded, standing in front of her, and looking down at her. “Oh!”

Yu Youyou nodded, then furrowed her brow again. “Why should I stand up? And you, why don’t you kneel before me when you see your emperor?”

Ling Xue asked, “Kneel?”

The corner of Ling Xue’s mouth curled into a cold smile, “Do you really think… I need to kneel before a soul that I could wipe out with a mere wave of my hand?”

As he spoke, his blood-red eyes coldly looked down at Yu Youyou.

Hearing this, Yu Youyou’s expression immediately changed, “You… What do you want? Don’t do anything rash!”

If this last remnant of her soul was destroyed, she would be utterly gone!

“Stand up!” Ling Xue repeated.

“Fine, fine, you sit, you sit!” Yu Youyou obediently stood up, losing all her previous imperial demeanor.

She made way for him, and Ling Xue sat down on the throne. Now standing to the side, despite wearing imperial robes, Yu Youyou appeared more like a lowly servant girl.

“I thought I could easily trick you, but turns out you’re a tough one…” she muttered under her breath.

“You are the empress of the Cangyun Empire?” Ling Xue asked, seated on the golden throne.

“Of course! Though I was only emperor for a few days, I was the emperor!” Yu Youyou lifted her chin.

In that ancient era, she had founded the Cangyun Empire.

At that time, the Cangyun Empire was just a small kingdom. She only reigned as emperor for a few days before she fell. She had no idea what became of the empire afterward.

After all, she was already dead, leaving behind only a remnant soul in this Shura Purgatory Tower, awaiting her resurrection.

What she didn’t know was that the empire she had casually founded did indeed flourish for a while, but eventually, it too perished, lost to the tides of history.

“So… what is this place? And why did you leave a remnant soul here?”

Ling Xue asked.

“This is the Shura Purgatory Tower!”  Yu Youyou replied, “As for me… I heroically sacrificed myself to fight off otherworldly demons long ago, leaving behind only this remnant soul in the ancient tower, waiting for someone to come and resurrect me.”

“So the so-called mission you mentioned was for me to help you reforge your body and bring you back to life?” Ling Xue asked.

“Uh… yes!” Yu Youyou nodded awkwardly with a forced smile.

That had indeed been her goal, but she hadn’t expected Ling Xue to see through her.

“The otherworldly demons you mentioned, what are they?” Ling Xue asked.

At the edge of this world lies the domain beyond, and in that domain exist some bizarre demonic races.

These demonic beings from beyond were collectively known as “otherworldly demons.”

Besides the otherworldly demons, there existed another unique entity in this world—the Void Beings, a powerful race living within the void.

Ling Xue was aware of both the otherworldly demons and the Void Beings.

In general, the domain beyond, the void, and this world of spiritual energy did not interfere with one another.

But Yu Youyou had perished at the hands of otherworldly demons, which piqued his curiosity.

“What do you mean? You don’t know?” Yu Youyou asked, looking curiously at Ling Xue.

“I know about those demonic beings, but… how did you end up dying at their hands?”

Ling Xue continued, “The otherworld, the void, and the spiritual energy world we live in don’t usually interact, do they?”

“They don’t interact? Hmm… does that mean the great war was won?”

Yu Youyou seemed surprised, then continued, “In my time, the three major forces were engaged in fierce conflict. The world was in chaos, and war was everywhere!”

Ling Xue nodded.

There was no need for further explanation; he could easily guess the rest.

It was the classic fantasy scenario of a grand war between different races.

Demonic invasions, and then everyone joining forces to resist…

In the end, they must have won. The Void Beings returned to the void, and the otherworldly demons fled back to the outer realms.

The world enjoyed a brief peace…

History continued to turn…

“And this ancient tower… what’s its origin?”

Ling Xue asked, “This is only the second level. What lies beyond?”