145: Your apprentice is also my disciple.

"A Phantom?"

Su Lin's voice carried a dryness he hadn't even noticed himself, and these two words squeezed out of his throat, sounding incredibly difficult.

He looked at the familiar yet strange face before him, at the composure that was enough to make the Laws of heaven and earth retreat on their own,

and the sense of oppression carved deep into his Divine Soul —all telling him that this was not an illusion.

"What else could it be?"

The woman in white — Su Lin's Revered Master, Ling Xin — stretched out a slender finger and gently tapped Su Lin's forehead.

This action carried no force, yet it made Su Lin's body stiffen. He instinctively wanted to retreat but found that the space around him had been completely locked down by an invisible power.

"You think that with your current meager cultivation, you could see my true body?"

Ling Xin's voice held a hint of amusement, "If my true body were to descend upon this realm, this world's Heavenly Dao would have long since shattered itself out of fear.

How could it still be showing its claws and fangs in front of you?"

Her words carried an immense amount of information; every single word felt like a mountain pressing down on Luo Ximei's heart.

Revered Master's Revered Master... is an existence from after her Ascension?

This world's Heavenly Dao... is afraid of her?

Luo Ximei's brain almost stopped functioning.

She looked at Ling Xin's finger tapping her Revered Master's forehead, and a single thought instantly occupied her entire mind.

Opportunity!

This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!

I am the first among the seven sisters to meet Revered Master's Revered Master!

At this moment, all jealousy and sense of offense were thrown to the back of her mind.

This person before her was the most powerful bargaining chip she could gain in this war to win Revered Master's affection!

I must perform perfectly!

I must let her see that among all the disciple, I am the most outstanding, the most powerful, and the most qualified to inherit her Legacy!

Once this thought arose, Luo Ximei's entire Aura underwent a subtle change.

The aggressive Devilish Qi around her quietly subsided, and the undisguised possessiveness was forcefully suppressed.

She straightened her back, like a soldier about to be inspected, striving to show her most flawless side.

"When you self-destructed back then, you certainly had guts."

Ling Xin withdrew her finger, changed the topic, and brought up the matter that had been etched into Su Lin's memory,

"It's a pity your brain wasn't working well.

Going head-to-head with the will of the heavenly dao, who did you think you were?"

The will of the heavenly dao!

Su Lin's pupils contracted. He had always suspected it, but it had never been confirmed.

Now that it came from his Revered Master's mouth, there was no longer any doubt.

The true mastermind who surrounded and killed him a century ago, forcing him to self-destruct to protect his seven disciple, was indeed the Heavenly Dao of this world!

"Disciple, at that time..."

"Enough, don't explain."

Ling Xin waved her hand, cutting him off. Her impatient demeanor was exactly the same as Su Lin remembered,

"Do you think I wouldn't know what you were thinking?

It was nothing more than thinking your wings had hardened, wanting to protect those little fledglings in your nest.

And what was the result?

You didn't protect the birds, and your own nest was taken over.

Isn't that shameful?"

These words were merciless, turning Su Lin's tragic self-sacrifice into a foolish, overambitious farce.

Luo Ximei's heart tightened abruptly, and a surge of anger uncontrollably welled up.

They are not birds!

And Revered Master is certainly not shameful!

But just before she was about to speak, she forcefully suppressed the impulse.

No, I cannot refute her.

This Grandmaster's style of action is clearly one of absolute dominance and self-will.

Arguing in front of her is the most foolish thing to do.

What she needed to do now was listen.

Su Lin gave a wry smile. He knew his Revered Master's temperament; she never spared anyone with her words, especially him.

"Disciple admits his mistake."

He chose the wisest way to respond.

"It's good that you know your mistake."

Ling Xin nodded in satisfaction, her clear eyes falling once again upon the Void Realm crystal in Su Lin's hand, and she changed the subject again,

"However, the fact that you managed to teleport them all away wasn't entirely luck."

Hearing this, Su Lin's heart stirred, and he pressed, "Revered Master, what do you mean by that?"

"Before you self-destructed back then, I had already made a move."

Ling Xin's words were shocking, each one clearly striking Su Lin and Luo Ximei's Divine Souls,

"That is why this Void Realm crystal fragment still carries residual marks of the Heavenly Dao."

She stretched out her finger and gently tapped the surface of the crystal.

From the swirling nebula within, a wisp of extremely subtle, almost imperceptible gray-black Qi was forcefully stripped away by her.

The moment that Qi appeared, the surrounding space let out a groan of unbearable stress.

"This is..."

Su Lin felt the familiar yet strange power, filled with the intent to obliterate, and his breathing paused for a moment.

"It is the power of the Heavenly Dao."

Ling Xin flicked her finger, and the wisp of gray-black Qi completely dissipated,

"The instant you self-destructed, it launched a killing blow, intending to completely wipe out your Divine Soul Origin,

cutting off all possibility of your Reincarnation and cultivation.

I used this fragment to block it for you from across the world barrier."

She looked at Su Lin, her eyes holding a hint of teasing that suggested, "You owe me a huge favor."

"Of course, the power of this Phantom of mine is limited; it couldn't block the attack completely.

Most of the power still landed on you, knocking you back to square one.

But this fragment, having been tainted by its Qi, protected your most core wisp of Origin True Spirit at the final moment of your Divine Soul's dispersion, allowing it to escape."

"Therefore, you didn't simply undergo Rebirth, but returned carrying the imprint of your past.

This is also why it is so wary of you, sending down Lightning Tribulations far exceeding the norm when you formed your Nascent Soul and Broke through to Soul Transformation, attempting to obliterate you again."

These words completely unraveled the biggest mystery in Su Lin's heart.

He had always wondered why he could miraculously return after self-destruction, and why the will of the heavenly dao would pay such close attention to someone who was merely in the Core Formation Stage.

It turned out that behind all this, his Revered Master, who had long since achieved Ascension, had been secretly making moves.

The decisiveness during his self-destruction and the unwillingness to fail upon his demise, all transformed into a warm current that surged through his body at this moment.

It turned out he had never been abandoned.

Standing nearby, Luo Ximei's heart was churning with enormous waves.

She looked at Ling Xin, the reverence in her eyes reaching its peak.

Fighting against the will of the heavenly dao across a world barrier and still protecting a wisp of Revered Master's True Spirit.

What kind of terrifying strength was this?

What kind of heaven-defying means were these?

At the same time, the desire in her heart to perform well grew even more fervent.

She not only needed to gain Revered Master's approval, but also the approval of this Grandmaster!

Just then, high in the sky, Immortal Master Xuan He, whose Dao Heart had been shattered, finally recovered from his extreme fear.

He transformed into a stream of gray light and desperately fled toward the outside of the Sky Rift Valley.

"Oh ho." Ling Xin's voice leisurely rang out.

Immortal Master Xuan He's body suddenly stiffened, stopping in mid-air.

Ling Xin frowned slightly in distaste, raised her hand, and gently blew a breath in his direction.

As she blew that breath, Immortal Master Xuan He completely dissipated between heaven and earth.

A Supreme expert of the Early Stage Mahayana was simply blown away with a single breath.

Su Lin was stunned, then continued speaking.

"That day, when my Divine Sense entered the crystal, why did you say I wasn't qualified, Revered Master?"

Ling Xin tapped Su Lin's head through the air, "Why are you so foolish? What was your cultivation level back then? Core Formation Stage?"

"Do you think you, at the Core Formation Stage, were qualified to see me??"

"Revered Master... I was at the Nascent Soul Stage cultivation level then, not the Core Formation Stage."

"Oh, is there a difference?"

Ling Xin countered with a question, her matter-of-fact tone instantly choking Su Lin.

Is the difference... significant?

To this existence who could blow away a Mahayana expert with a single breath, the Nascent Soul Stage and the Core Formation Stage probably truly made no difference; both were ants that could be crushed with a single finger.

Su Lin wisely shut his mouth, no longer dwelling on the issue.

Ling Xin seemed satisfied with his sensible behavior. She turned her head, her gaze falling once again upon Luo Ximei.

This time, her eyes held less scrutiny and more of an indescribable meaning.

"Your name is Luo Ximei, correct?"

"Reporting to Grandmaster, Disciple Luo Ximei."

Luo Ximei bowed again, her posture even more humble than before.

"Have you figured it out?" Ling Xin asked.

"Disciple is slow-witted, please enlighten me, Grandmaster."

Luo Ximei did not answer rashly but threw the question back.

Ling Xin chuckled lightly, seemingly appreciative of her quick wit.

"I ask you, what do you seek by cultivating the Demonic Path?"

This question struck directly at the root of the Great Dao.

Luo Ximei did not hesitate at all. She raised her head, her gaze burning as she looked at Ling Xin, and answered word by word:

"Disciple cultivates the Demonic Path not for longevity or power, but only to be able to forever protect Revered Master's side and possess him."

Her answer was frank and direct, displaying the deepest desire in her heart without reservation before this unfathomable powerful expert.

Su Lin listened from the side, feeling both helpless and touched. This girl's obsession was truly carved into her bones.

Ling Xin did not immediately comment after listening.

She just quietly watched Luo Ximei, her clear eyes seemingly able to see through her Divine Soul Origin.

After a long time, she slowly spoke: "It is quite pure."

Ling Xin gave a neutral evaluation. She paused, then changed the subject, and her clear eyes finally held a trace of genuine interest.

"Since your Dao is to possess him, then presumably, to gain the power to possess him forever, you can also pay any price, correct?"

This sentence was like a key, instantly flipping a switch deep within Luo Ximei's heart.

"Yes."

Luo Ximei's answer held no hesitation, her voice firm and resolute, "Disciple is willing to pay any price for Revered Master."

"Very good."

The smile on Ling Xin's face grew brighter, a pure smile that nevertheless caused the ominous premonition in Su Lin's heart to climb to its peak.

He was too familiar with this expression of his Revered Master.

Whenever she showed this kind of smile, it meant someone was about to suffer terribly.

And nine times out of ten, that unlucky person was himself.

"Since that is the case," Ling Xin extended a slender finger, and upon its tip, a wisp of pure, translucent white radiance, so faint it was almost invisible, slowly condensed, "then today, I shall grant you a great fortune."

The instant that wisp of radiance appeared, the Laws of heaven and earth, which had just calmed down, once again let out a groan of unbearable stress.

It did not emit any terrifying coercion, nor did it possess any earth-shattering Aura.

Yet Luo Ximei, this Demon Path Supreme Being at the Great Perfection of Integration Stage, instinctively trembled in her Divine Soul the moment she saw that wisp of radiance.

That was not fear, but an absolute suppression on the level of life itself.

It was like an ant looking up and seeing a gigantic palm, belonging to a different dimension, covering the entire sky.

She couldn't even comprehend the opponent's power; she could only sense, through her most primal instincts, the absolute gap that was enough to completely erase her and the entire world along with her.

"Grandmaster, this is..."

Luo Ximei's voice uncontrollably carried a hint of dryness.

"This is a wisp of my Origin power."

Ling Xin's voice was light and casual, as if she were talking about a trivial matter, "I am giving it to you. How much you can comprehend from it, and how much you can make use of it, depends on your own ability."

"If you can completely absorb it, let alone the mere Mahayana, even Ascension to the Immortal Realm would only be a matter of time."

"But," she changed her tone again, and her clear eyes held a trace of undisguised playfulness, "if you cannot bear it, then your Divine Soul, your Dao Foundation, and all traces of your existence will be completely erased by it from the root, and you won't even have the chance for Reincarnation."

"Now, do you still want it?"

She asked the final question, slowly pushing the wisp of white radiance, powerful enough to decide the life and death of a Great Perfection of Integration Stage expert, toward Luo Ximei.

Su Lin's heart instantly leaped into his throat.

He wanted to speak up and stop her, but found that the space around him was once again completely locked down by that invisible power.

He could only watch helplessly as that wisp of power, which seemed a hundred times more terrifying than the Heavenly Dao Lightning Tribulation, slowly approached his proud disciple.

Luo Ximei's expression became extremely solemn at this moment.

Accepting it meant using her Great Perfection of Integration Stage Divine Soul to forcibly bear a piece of the starry sky that she could not comprehend at all.

Either she would be burst apart by that starry sky and suffer Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

Or she would steal a trace of starlight from that starry sky and make it her own.

There was no third option.

Should she refuse?

This thought existed in Luo Ximei's mind for only a brief moment before she extinguished it without hesitation.

She abruptly raised her head, and resolute light burned in her blood-red eyes.

"Thank you, Grandmaster, for bestowing this Law!"

She did not retreat in the slightest; instead, she actively stepped forward and extended both hands,

welcoming the wisp of white radiance that was powerful enough to completely erase her.

Luo Ximei's body suddenly stiffened. She was frozen in place, as if immobilized by a body-fixing spell.

Her eyes lost all brilliance, becoming completely hollow.

The next moment, the Devilish Qi within her body rampaged without warning.

Dark red energy surged wildly from her body, forming uncontrolled energy currents around her that sliced deep ravines into the valley floor.

"Ximei?!" Su Lin cried out anxiously, "Ma... Revered Master, is she really alright??"

Ling Xin stretched out her finger and tapped Su Lin's head through the air again.

"Of course she's fine. Your disciple are also my disciple. Relax, I will intervene if something truly goes wrong."