The night wind abruptly halted, and the flickering candlelight seemed to freeze.
Lin Wan stood with her slender hands clasped behind her back, her gaze cold as frost. She spoke indifferently, "I will give you one chance to make your move." Her voice was neither fast nor slow, yet it carried an unquestionable authority. "You have, and will only have, this one chance."
Ji Wuque's pupils constricted slightly, and then he smiled in extreme rage. "You are even more arrogant than I imagined!"
Before his words even faded, the golden light around him surged violently. The phantom of an emperor behind him suddenly solidified, and he struck out with a palm. This palm strike appeared simple, but in reality, it contained the cultivation of his entire life. Wherever the palm wind passed, space shattered inch by inch, revealing the pitch-black void. The pillars within the hall collapsed with a roar, and rubble flew in all directions, yet the moment it touched the three-foot perimeter around Lin Wan, it eerily froze in mid-air.
Lin Wan stood in place, not even the hem of her clothes moving by a fraction.
Just as Ji Wuque's palm force was about to touch her, she let out a soft "humph."
This light hum seemed to trigger some invisible switch.
In the next moment, Ji Wuque felt his vision blur, his sight filled by endless white light. That radiance was so intense that even the body of a Celestial Venerable felt stinging pain. Immediately following that, a destructive force capable of withering the old and strengthening the new came rushing towards him, like the Milky Way pouring down from the heavens, or stars crashing down. It ruthlessly crushed his full-power strike!
"This is..." Ji Wuque was horrified. He hurriedly circulated his Merit Golden Light to protect his body. However, that power was far too overbearing; his protective golden light was torn apart like thin paper. His whole body flew backward like a kite with a cut string, crashing heavily through seven layers of palace walls, and finally embedding itself into the last palace wall, which was cast from black iron.
As the dust and smoke settled, Lin Wan still stood in her original spot. Her white dress fluttered, untouched by a speck of dust. She lightly brushed her sleeve, as if wiping away non-existent dust, her expression so indifferent it was as if she had just casually swatted away a fly.
—Myriad Laws Return to One.
This was a unique technique created by Lin Wan herself.
To put it plainly, it was actually just self-detonating a clone.
But the words "self-detonation" were too crude. Not only did they lack style, but they also easily exposed the secret of her clones.
So, in her spare time, she had carefully refined this move.
First, she created unparalleled sound and light effects.
When a clone self-detonated, what erupted wasn't an ordinary fluctuation of spiritual power, but a "Manifestation of Dao Rhyme" that had been meticulously designed.
Amidst the white light, thousands of chains of Dao Rules would appear, golden lotuses would bloom within the void, and even the sounds of the Great Dao would echo. Anyone who saw this would assume it was some mysterious, unfathomable divine ability; absolutely no one would associate it with a simple self-detonation.
Second, she utilized the characteristics of the Sect Master's secret chamber to conceal the secrets of Heaven.
At the instant the clone self-detonated, her true body would cast a spell in the secret chamber, interfering with all deductions and calculations.
Even if someone suspected something, they wouldn't be able to see through the mystery within.
Finally, and most importantly—under the cover of the sound and light effects, a new clone would be instantly teleported over. The entire process was fluid and seamless. To onlookers, it was as if Lin Wan had stood still in her original spot and defeated her enemy with a single, light strike.
This move might not be a one-hit kill against a true Celestial Venerable who ascended through the power of Rules. But against a "shoddy" Celestial Venerable like Ji Wuque, who was piled up with Merit, the effect was outstanding.
At this moment, Ji Wuque, embedded in the wall, had blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with disbelief. He stared fixedly at the figure in the white dress in the distance, unable to make sense of it—he had cultivated bitterly for ten thousand years, and was endowed with Merit, so why was he so unbearable in her presence?
Lin Wan merely stood quietly under the moonlight, her expression indifferent. The night breeze brushed the hem of her skirt, making her look like a banished immortal descending to the mortal realm.
Anyone who saw this would think she hadn't even used her full power yet.
Ji Wuque struggled to free himself from the shattered palace wall, pieces of black iron falling to the ground with clatter. He staggered a couple of steps to steady himself, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and suddenly let out a low laugh. "This move... what is its name?"
Lin Wan stood with her hands behind her back and subconsciously blurted out, "Self... cough, Myriad Laws Return to One."
"Myriad Laws Return to One..." Ji Wuque murmured, a look of appreciation flashing in his eyes. "Converting all spells into the purest power, returning to simplicity and truth... worthy of being called 'Myriad Laws Return to One'."
Lin Wan turned her face away, not looking at him.
The moonlight shone on her profile, revealing a trace of imperceptible guilt.
After a moment of silence, Ji Wuque suddenly let out a long sigh.
"I am not reconciled..."
His voice was hoarse, carrying a hint of self-mockery. "Clearly I have the aura of a protagonist, yet not the fate of one."
He looked up at the night sky, starlight falling on his blood-stained robes. "I thought that as long as I kept walking, one day I would be able to sit at the chess table like 'that person'..."
He gave a bitter smile. "But I never expected that I would be so unbearable before you. This is... a true Celestial Venerable?"
He lowered his head, looking at his trembling hands. "I am too ridiculous."
Lin Wan secretly complained in her heart: You are a dignified expert who has struggled for tens of thousands of years; why do I feel like you were slapped awake by just one palm of mine?
Where is your wildness? Where is your revenge?
Hearing Ji Wuque's words, she paused for a moment. "The 'that person' you speak of is...?"
Ji Wuque's gaze was distant, as if piercing through time and space. "He is the person I once swore to follow, and also the person I watched with my own eyes... as he was schemed against step by step, and finally perished, body and soul destroyed."
The night breeze brushed past, and Lin Wan's pupils constricted slightly.
This plot... why does it sound a bit familiar?
While Ji Wuque was lost in memories, Lin Wan suddenly spoke, "I hope you don't mind me asking..." Her voice was very soft, but it exploded like thunder in Ji Wuque's ears. "Could the person you speak of be known as the 'Sacred Master'?"
Ji Wuque abruptly raised his head, a terrifying light bursting from his eyes. He stared fixedly at Lin Wan, the expression on his face shifting from shock to wild ecstasy, finally turning into a kind of frantic excitement. "Could it be... could it be that Chen Chang'an is really the Sacred Master reborn?!" His voice was trembling. "He has already awakened?!"
Lin Wan calmly shook her head. "He is not."
This answer caused Ji Wuque to calm down instantly. He smiled self-deprecatingly, the light in his eyes gradually dimming. "Right..." he murmured softly. "Even though those two fools believed until their deaths that the Sacred Master would return, I watched with my own eyes as that great existence wiped out all traces of the Sacred Master..."
His voice grew softer and softer, finally turning into a sigh. "A person of whom not even ash remains... how could he possibly come back?"
The night breeze blew past, swirling a few fallen leaves. Ji Wuque looked up at Lin Wan, the madness in his eyes gradually calming, replaced by a sense of relief. "Come on." He opened his arms, a smile of ease rising on his lips. "To die at the hands of the one I love... for a man, that is considered a not-so-bad ending."
The moonlight spilled onto his face, highlighting a handsome visage stained with blood. In this moment, he shed all disguises and schemes, revealing his most authentic self.
Lin Wan watched him quietly, the sword light in her hand flickering unsteadily as she strongly resisted the urge to chop him down immediately.
The night breeze lifted her hair, obscuring a complex emotion that flashed through her eyes.
She had already roughly guessed Ji Wuque's true identity.
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