"You've already had a restriction placed on you by me. Don't even think about using Magical Power. Right now, you're no different from an ordinary mortal." A lazy voice suddenly rang out, and the woman surnamed Song looked up in alarm.
In the corner of the cave, a tall, dark figure sat cross-legged. Because it hadn't moved a muscle, she hadn't noticed it at all upon first entering.
Almost simultaneously, she also discovered that the Magical Power in her body truly could not be gathered or summoned — it really did seem as though a powerful restriction had been placed on her. Her heart sank without warning.
"Who are you? Why did you capture my sisters and me!" The woman surnamed Song swept a glance to her side and found
"Heh heh. I didn't expect to run into the three of you in the Inner Valley. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for happening to stumble upon me — and for being of some use to me. Niece Song, as long as you stay here and behave, I won't make things difficult for you for now, out of regard for old ties. But if you try to escape, don't blame me for being ruthless." The tall figure spoke in a cold voice.
"Niece Song? This little woman doesn't recall having such an elder from my sect. Or could it be that you've simply mistaken me for someone else?"
"Not recognizing me is nothing strange. So long as I recognize you, that's enough. That girl Ziling — is she doing well?" the tall figure asked indifferently.
"You know Ziling?! Who exactly are you?!" The shock in
"If you want to know who I am, that's simple enough." The black figure muttered to itself, then suddenly rose to its feet and began walking toward the woman surnamed Song.
After just a few steps, the figure emerged from the darkness, and its silhouette and appearance came fully into the woman's view.
It wore a pitch-black robe. Its head was skull-like, and a pair of massive fangs protruded from its mouth by roughly an inch — a truly horrifying sight. Moreover, one bare arm gleamed as though forged from gold and silver, its luster undeniably eerie and unnatural.
"Who are you? I've never seen you before." Although the other party's appearance made
"Oh? With how I look now, it's no wonder you don't recognize me." The black-robed figure wasn't offended; instead it spoke placidly. But its gaze toward the woman surnamed Song suddenly shifted, taking on a peculiar quality.
The moment
"You… you're… impossible!" The woman surnamed Song cried out in shock.
"You've finally figured it out. But there's no need for surprise — the current me is not yet that person. However, before long, I will become him." The black-robed figure let out a strange, low laugh, then flickered and retreated to its original spot. It sat cross-legged once more, paying the woman surnamed Song no further attention.
The palace-robed woman's jade-like face was filled with utter disbelief, her mind utterly unable to remain calm. A young man's shadow kept flashing through her consciousness, merging with the black-robed figure before her, then splitting apart again.
*Could it really be Uncle-Master Han? But he doesn't look like this at all. Could he have encountered some great tribulation while traveling abroad and been forced to seize a body to be reborn? No — that can't be right. Although Uncle-Master is only at mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, his abilities are nearly on par with those of late-stage great cultivators. How could something like that happen to him? And even if his body really were destroyed and his Primordial Spirit forced to seize another's, why wouldn't he return to the sect to recuperate? Why would he be hiding in the Fallen Spirit Valley, and why would he attack the three of us without mercy? What did those last few words mean?" Even though the woman surnamed Song was extraordinarily gifted, she now stared blankly at the dark figure, her thoughts thrown into complete chaos.
"Hmph. The two of you are awake as well. Why bother pretending to still be unconscious?" The black-robed figure suddenly opened its eyes and gave a cold snort.
The moment
"You're not the young master — you're the young master's second Nascent Soul! How could you have broken free of the young master's control and developed autonomous consciousness? Where is the young master right now?" The woman's voice was filled with an indescribable mix of strangeness — part worry, part dread.
"Junior Sister Mu, are you certain? This person really is the second incarnation that Master refined?"
"I don't know the full details, but I've heard that the young master cultivated a secret technique exceedingly rare in the
"So you can recognize the original. Ah, I remember now — it must have been that girl Silver Moon who let something slip. But I never intended to hide it anyway. I was indeed once that person's second Nascent Soul. However, once my cultivation reaches completion and I devour that person's Primordial Spirit, I will become that person, and that person will become me. Stay here and behave yourselves. If everything goes smoothly, I'll release you in time. And this place — I found it deep in the Inner Valley. It's so well hidden that even if that person came searching for you himself, he would never find you." The black-robed figure saw no reason to conceal anything and admitted it freely.
It was, in fact, the second Nascent Soul — the Spiritual Wood Nascent Soul — that had been lost years ago during
Back then, this second Nascent Soul had been critically injured by one of the great Immortal Masters. It should have simply dissipated and vanished. But it so happened that the second Nascent Soul had cultivated a measure of the profound Yin Demonic Qi that
Had