"Take over the Dao Sect…" Lu Fan's voice was calm, as if merely commenting on an impending rainfall, or asking Nie Changqing to fetch in the laundry before the storm.Nie Changqing, seated cross-legged on the mat, froze ever so slightly.The Dao Sect… Had it somehow provoked the young master's displeasure? Among the myriad schools, the Dao Sect was one of the most powerful, and also among the first Lu Fan had encountered.Nie Changqing had once been a forsaken disciple of the Dao Sect. Han Lianxiao, sent by the sect to slay him and abduct Nie Shuang, had seen his plans undone by Lu Fan's unexpected intervention.Nie Changqing had anticipated retaliation—figured powerful forces from the Dao Sect would descend upon Beiluo City to avenge Han Lianxiao.But he was wrong. The Dao Sect remained unmoved, Han Lianxiao's death like a withered autumn leaf sinking silently to the pond's bottom, leaving no ripple in its wake.
"Young Master… do you truly mean it?" Nie Changqing managed to suppress his astonishment, asking in a low voice.Lu Fan leaned against his wheelchair. The light of dawn shimmered behind him, casting a radiant glow tinged with violet.
"Do I look like I'm jesting?""You're heading into the Dao Sect to rescue your wife anyway. While you're at it, taking it over wouldn't be a loss…" Lu Fan rolled up his sleeves and placed a white chess piece on the spirit-suppression board.
This idea—to assimilate the Dao Sect—was a sudden impulse.Lu Fan had long misunderstood something. If one wished to elevate White Jade Capital into a transcendent force above all the hundred schools, there was a cleverer shortcut:Break the surface by striking at a point. Subjugate two or three major sects to send a shock through the rest, demonstrating White Jade Capital's power while preserving its mystique.He had always fancied himself a reasonable man.
So he sent Old Nie to probe. If the Dao Sect would yield as the Tianji House had, all would be well.If not, well… at least he had tried civility.
Nie Changqing felt his throat run dry.They had already assimilated Tianji House. Now, even the Dao Sect…He could faintly glimpse the enormity of Lu Fan's ambition. And that vision, though daunting, thrilled him.
"What? Afraid?" Lu Fan cast him a sidelong glance, raising an eyebrow."With your current strength—at the eleventh stage of Qi Core—once you refine a final strand of spiritual energy, you'll reach its pinnacle and can attempt the breakthrough to the Hidden Body realm."
Lu Fan's words echoed across the terrace.Nie Changqing straightened his expression and sat upright.
"The Hidden Body realm is no easy threshold. The Overlord once charged alone through an army, relying on overwhelming might to break its shackles—yet fell short.Do you think you'll succeed without pressure?" Lu Fan asked.
Nie Changqing's heart skipped—The Overlord, alone and on horseback, charging through ten thousand troops?
"Don't grow too complacent. As you are now, your strength amounts to nothing.If you stagnate, you'll be discarded by the future," Lu Fan said.
Nie Changqing clenched his fists."Adjust your state. Go ask Ni Yu for three Qi-Gathering Pills. Only three. No more.Pills are useful, but you are not like Ni Yu. She may rely on them to force a breakthrough, but you, Ning Zhao, and Yi Yue must not."
"Any violation will be punished without mercy."Lu Fan tapped the armrest of his wheelchair.
Nie Changqing nodded solemnly.Was the young master… giving up on Ni Yu?Nie turned, glancing toward the girl on the island, gleefully refining pills with her backside raised in the air. He pressed his lips together.
"Go," Lu Fan waved his hand.
Nie Changqing rose and descended the tower of White Jade Capital.The wheelchair turned on its own. By the railing, Lu Fan gazed toward the lake bathed in morning light, a faint smile playing at his lips.For the first time, he felt anticipation—for the moment when White Jade Capital would unify the Hundred Schools, ascending at last to become a truly transcendent force.It lacked only a final layer—And absorbing the Hundred Schools would pierce through that veil.
On the lake island, Mo Liuqi knelt silently on the greenstone slab.He had been kneeling all night.But Lu Fan had paid him no heed.Still, Mo Liuqi would not give up.
He wished to enter White Jade Capital.He wished to learn the way of cultivation.He wished… for revenge.
Suddenly, his whole body trembled.He looked up, eyes full of yearning, toward the fog-shrouded White Jade Tower.
"Young Master…" Mo Liuqi clenched his fists.
"You lost to the Overlord. Failure is not the end—what's truly frightening is being crushed by it, consumed by hatred."Lu Fan's ethereal voice rang in his ears.
"Young Master… what should I do?"Mo Liuqi loosened his grip. His hands trembled. At some point, tears had already begun to stream down his cheeks.
He had watched A-Zhu fall before his eyes, like a blood-colored mandala withering away.He had picked up the shattered mask of Mo Yihen with his own hands.His tightly wound heart was on the verge of collapse.
"Young Master… with all your divine powers, could you not save A-Zhu and the face-paralyzed fool? I'd give my life as a beast of burden in exchange for their peace…"Mo Liuqi prostrated himself, sobbing like a broken child.
On the island, Nie Changqing, Ning Zhao, and others turned to look.They gazed solemnly at Mo Liuqi's heart-wrenching cries.Such raw grief, born only of losing those dearest…
"They are dead."Lu Fan's distant voice lingered."The dead return to the netherworld. They seldom return."
His words chilled Mo Liuqi to the bone.
"However…With the resurgence of spiritual energy and the shifting of heaven and earth, if you walk the world, seek your immortal fate—One day…The gates of the underworld may yet be pried open, and wandering souls may return."
Mo Liuqi froze.He looked up, hope flaring in his eyes.
"Grow stronger.If you reach the point where you can tear open the underworld itself…That may be the moment of your reunion."
Lu Fan's voice remained elusive—Yet it was like a drop of dew falling upon a parched, hopeless desert.
Mo Liuqi stood up and bowed deeply to Lu Fan.Then, he turned, boarding a lone boat, and departed the island.He would leave Beiluo.He would travel the world, search for destiny, grow stronger—Until the day he could reopen the wheel of life and death.
"You might try the borderlands.Sometimes, in the bleakest places, hope takes root."From the tower, Lu Fan sipped plum wine and spoke softly.
Mist swirled with his words.Mo Liuqi's silhouette had already faded into the haze.
…
Northern County, Buzhou Peak.Li Sansi slowly opened his eyes. The mountaintop was silent. Even the wind seemed to have stilled.
Clad in azure robes, he rose from the greenstone and gripped his wooden sword, turning warily.
But he froze.For behind the stone…Sat a young girl, hugging her knees in silence.
Eyes closed, long lashes gently trembling—A girl, here, on Buzhou Peak?
Li Sansi leapt down from the stone, his guard still raised.Before the dark, bone-strewn cavern, she sat unflinching.No fear.No revulsion.
There was something… off.A quiet dread clung to her.
Li Sansi raised his wooden sword. Spiritual energy surged from his Qi Core. He locked his gaze on the silent girl.But then, he paused.
Her skin gleamed like warm jade.Youthful features still untouched by the world's cruelty.Such innocence struck his heart like a small hammer.
He thought of his sister—Li Sansui.She, too, had once been so pure.Until grief changed her name to Mo Chou.And the world never saw sweet Li Sansui again—Only Daoist Nun Li Mochou.
Li Sansi lowered his sword."Young lady…"
The girl did not speak.She simply raised a finger—Pointing to the flute at his waist.
Li Sansi blinked."You… wish to hear a tune?"
The girl nodded.
Li Sansi hesitated—He had always loved to play in the borderlands…