vThose pink Threads of Love were formless and intangible, yet more malicious than the sharpest blade. They disregarded the fierce defense of the Four Symbols Sword Formation and, like bone-deep maggots, silently entangled Ji Lingxiu's mind and spirit.
Ji Lingxiu felt her sea of consciousness suddenly rock. The scene before her eyes warped slightly.
Ding Tanghuan's fierce Five Elements spell attacks seemed to grow distant, while a searing desire, forcibly amplified and twisted from deep within her heart, ignited like wildfire!
Master...
That figure suddenly became vividly clear in her mind—no longer carrying the authority and warmth of father, brother, teacher, and heaven, but now stained with a layer of forbidden, enchanting color that made her heart race.
Countless intimate, unbearable illusions emerged uncontrollably: Master's gentle smile turning ambiguous; his occasional fingertips touching her seeming to carry electric current; his usually serious teachings now recalled as if they were some kind of seduction...
A powerful, almost reason-breaking desire frantically screamed: Get closer to him, possess him, let him no longer be Master, but...
"No!"
Ji Lingxiu let out a cry of fear in her heart, but the power of the Thread of Love was like a curse, firmly seizing her mind and spirit.
More terrifying still, an unnamed resentment and jealousy grew along with it. That figure always beside Master with a gentle smile—her shifu's wife, Ji Hongli—at this moment in her twisted vision became unbearably glaring.
Why? Why could she stand beside Master so righteously?
A vicious notion to push her away, even to take her place, grew madly!
These thoughts came so violently, so genuinely, that she felt boundless shame and fear. Her mind and spirit instantly collapsed!
"Pfft!"
In that instant of spiritual turmoil, a sharp metal spear she failed to completely evade grazed her arm armor, drawing a trail of blood!
The pain sobered her slightly, but the Thread of Love's erosion continued to surge like a tide.
Her footsteps grew chaotic. The Four Symbols Sword Formation's rotation showed obvious hesitation and flaws. The Azure Dragon sword intent lost its fluidity, the White Tiger sword intent lost its edge, the Black Tortoise sword intent teetered, and the Vermilion Bird sword intent flickered unsteadily!
"Hahaha!"
Seeing this, Ding Tanghuan let out a cold, triumphant laugh, her attacks growing even more ferocious.
"City Lord Ji, why struggle so bitterly? Just follow your heart—wouldn't that be delightful? Is your Master not worthy of your devoted love?"
Her words were like demonic sounds, continuing to catalyze that terrible Thread of Love.
The hearts of those below supporting the Immortal Spirit Holy Land clenched tight. They couldn't see the formless Threads of Love; they only saw Ji Lingxiu suddenly become disoriented, her swordsmanship scattered, instantly falling into absolute disadvantage, danger closing in from all sides!
On the high platform, Chen Chang'an's gaze had turned bone-chillingly cold. The aura around him was suppressed like the dead silence before a storm. He nearly couldn't resist intervening!
At this critical juncture!
Ji Lingxiu fiercely bit the tip of her tongue. The metallic taste of blood and the sharp pain stimulated her nearly drowning consciousness.
In the midst of chaos and searing delusions, some sealed yet incredibly solid memory fragments, like a needle calming the seas, stubbornly pierced through the fog and surfaced—
...She was the fallen imperial princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Her nation destroyed, her family ruined, she fled like a stray dog to seek shelter from the fiancé who had a marriage contract with her, hoping for a sliver of protection.
...What awaited her was not protection, but cold calculation and a nearly fatal trap! Her fiancé's hypocritical face became the deepest chill in her despair.
...It was that man who descended like a deity, pulling her from the abyss of despair. He didn't take advantage of her vulnerability, didn't demand repayment—simply brought her back to that warm valley.
...He taught her with care, transmitting supreme spear arts and the Four Symbols Sword Formation, never showing the slightest contempt or pity for her past identity, treating her as a true disciple, as family.
...When Immortal Spirit City was first built and everything needed doing, it was he who handed over the authority and trust of this future city full of hope to her without reservation.
...And there was her shifu's wife Ji Hongli—that peerlessly elegant woman who treated her so well, never showing the slightest grudge, caring for her like an older sister...
These memories, genuine, warm, and weighty, formed an incredibly stark contrast with those forcibly implanted, twisted, searing delusions in her mind!
"That's not... me!"
Ji Lingxiu roared within her heart. From her eyes, reddened by the Thread of Love, suddenly burst forth a clarity that came from struggling to the very limit!
"I admit that toward Master... yes, I admit that at first... I did have inappropriate thoughts. But that was in the past. Now, what I feel toward Master is reverence! Is filial devotion! Is the determination to guard everything about him with the spear in my hand!"
"Absolutely not... absolutely not such filthy delusions!"
"Get out!"
A willpower powerful enough to shake the heavens, like a phoenix driven to the edge, let out a cry that reached the sky!
She forcefully resisted and suppressed the erosion of that bizarre Thread of Love with supreme will!
At the same time, she made a move that no one expected!
She suddenly raised her left hand, two fingers pressed together like a sword! But what condensed on those fingers was not the Four Symbols sword intent—it was her resolute will to cut through illusion and see her true self!
She did not strike at her enemy. Instead, without hesitation, she slashed across her own forehead!
"Sst—!"
A lock of raven-black hair was severed, slowly drifting down.
What was cut was not merely hair.
It was as if she had severed those formless, intangible thousands of Threads of Love entangling her mind and spirit!
An invisible, maddening shackle suddenly loosened as that severed lock drifted down! Those chaotic, searing, unbearable delusions in her mind receded like the tide!
Though her mind and spirit were exhausted from the earlier struggle, her eyes instantly regained clarity and determination—even sharper than before!
The Four Symbols Sword Formation's radiance stabilized once more. Azure Dragon chanted, White Tiger roared, Black Tortoise guarded the seas, and Vermilion Bird incinerated the heavens!
The Four Symbols rotated, steadily blocking Ding Tanghuan's subsequent spell attacks outside!
Ji Lingxiu stood with her spear, breathing slightly heavily. Her cold gaze fixed on the ashen-faced Ding Tanghuan as she spoke in a hoarse yet undeniably powerful voice:
"Unorthodox methods that confuse the mind—ultimately not worthy of the stage!"
The triumphant smile on Ding Tanghuan's face completely froze, transforming into disbelief and shock.
"You... you can actually sever the Thread of Love yourself?! How is this possible?!"
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