「All right. Then you still owe me a favor. Take Su Mei with you and keep her safe—that'll settle it.」 You noticed the odd look on Liu Yue's face, sensing she was unwilling to step into the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, so you agreed readily.
「Deal!」 Liu Yue nodded without hesitation.
Not only did Su Mei possess the Cursed Eye, one of the Ten Divine Pupils, but she also had an extraordinary talent for alchemy. To any major power, she was an absolute treasure.
Naturally, Liu Yue would never turn down such a priceless asset.
With Liu Yue—a Five-Turn Heavenly Being—vouching for her safety, Su Mei's protection was all but guaranteed.
「Brother Sun... I don't want to leave you.」 The eighteen-year-old Su Mei sobbed uncontrollably, clinging tightly to you.
Looking at the tearful, reluctant girl in your arms, you could only comfort her softly, whispering in her ear as you handed over Ghost Doctor Venerable's complete alchemist inheritance. You told her that when you met again, she would have grown into a powerful alchemist...
Truth be told, you had a little ulterior motive here. Alchemists held exalted status, coveted by every faction under the sun. A talent like Su Mei's would surely catch the eye of the power backing Liu Yue, leading them to try and recruit her...
Even though Su Mei wasn't a traditional alchemist but a poison alchemist, that made her all the more valuable—far rarer and more sought-after by those great powers...
If you ever crossed paths again in the future, you might be able to get Liu Yue's true identity and the details of her backing out of Su Mei...
Of course, all this depended on whether you could survive. But earlier, Liu Yue had said that coming to the Ten Thousand Great Mountains was the only way you'd live...
You made a promise to Su Mei: she would go with Liu Yue for now, and once she'd cultivated enough strength to protect her Brother Sun, she would come find you in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
Su Mei nodded, believing every word you said.
「Pinky swear! No backing out!」
「Pinky swear.」
Watching the two of you being all lovey-dovey, acting like she wasn't even there, Liu Yue felt her anger flaring up again, her fists clenched so tight they threatened to shatter.
「Ahem. Has someone forgotten something?」 Liu Yue suddenly cleared her throat, rudely interrupting your tender moment and giving you a pointed look.
「Mei'er, wait here for me a minute. I need to talk to your Sister Liu about something.」 You thought to yourself that Liu Yue really couldn't hold back any longer, then told Su Mei a little white lie...
「Okay!」 Su Mei nodded obediently, watching you and Liu Yue walk off together to talk in private.
...
A few hours later, the two of you returned, having reached an agreement.
You had a few new cuts and bruises, your clothes torn as if you'd been in a fight.
Liu Yue, on the other hand, strutted along like a proud peacock, looking utterly pleased with herself...
Su Mei, with her impaired vision, seemed not to notice—though for a split second, her fists tightened imperceptibly...
Liu Yue took Su Mei and left, saying that for your sake, she would take good care of the girl.
Perhaps in a good mood and feeling generous, Liu Yue secretly slipped you a Talisman Sword, explaining that it contained one of her full-powered attacks, capable of saving your life in a pinch. You accepted it...
You watched as the two women left, walking side by side like sisters...
You knew full well that once Liu Yue was gone, you would be in grave danger. The mysterious pursuer hiding in the shadows would no longer have any reason to hold back.
Whoosh!
Without a moment's hesitation, you spun around and charged headlong into the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. You slapped a Fourth-Rank Earth-Stealth Talisman onto your chest, sinking into the ground as you silently chanted, 「You can't see me. You can't see me.」, concealing your aura completely...
You tunneled through the earth at breakneck speed for what felt like an eternity, when suddenly a bone-chilling chill washed over you. Your eyes narrowed sharply, and you shot out of the ground in an instant.
BOOM!
The ground within a radius of nearly a hundred miles erupted in violent tremors, as if a giant dragon was writhing beneath the surface, tearing the earth apart and toppling massive trees in its wake...
It was nothing short of a devastating, indiscriminate earthquake.
If you'd been a split second slower, still trapped underground, you would've been crushed into a bloody pulp in an instant...
You realized this was most likely the doing of that mysterious pursuer, a targeted attack aimed directly at you.
「Huh. I didn't expect you to react that quickly!」 A voice tinged with surprise suddenly rang out, carrying a strange, inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Your eyes constricted violently, and a surge of blood-boiling excitement and trembling rage shot through your veins.
You recognized that voice! It belonged to the same person who'd wiped out the Sun Clan traitors in your third simulation, then tracked you down to that mysterious secret realm and killed you!
That was the you from the third simulation—the bastard you'd sworn never to forget, the one you'd vowed to take revenge on. The very same bastard who'd tossed a Dao Fruit to you from the river of time.
Your gaze snapped toward the source of the voice, only to see a figure clad in a blood-red robe, their face hidden behind a fiendish Asura mask.
Never in your wildest dreams had you imagined that your pursuer was him.
「It's you, you son of a bitch!」
「You know me? How is that possible!」 The robed figure behind the Asura mask froze, clearly caught off guard, his movements stuttering for a split second.
Nonstop Nonsense (Green) activated.
「I'm your goddamn father, of course I know you! Go home and ask your mother!」
「Father? You! Son of a—!」 The expression behind the robed man's mask must've been priceless. For a brief moment, he sounded completely dumbfounded and shaken to the core—but he quickly snapped out of it, flying into an absolute rage.
But by the time he recovered his wits, you weren't running away like he'd expected. Instead, you were charging straight at him like a man possessed, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
What happened next shocked him to his core.
Step!
Realm of Transcendence—the Sixth Stage!
Step!
Realm of Sainthood—the Seventh Stage!
You took two consecutive steps forward, ascending to Sainthood in the space of a heartbeat.
The half-formed Heavenly Being Talisman in your mind blazed with righteous fury, radiating brilliant light as you forcefully burned a hundred years of your lifespan.
You took half a step more!
BOOM!
Half-Step Heavenly Being!
An aura of a Heavenly Being's domain began to coalesce around your body.
「Nine Dragons Burning Heaven!」
ROAR!
Nine flaming dragon phantoms burst forth from behind you in an instant, merging into a single colossal dragon over a hundred zhang long.
In your hand, the Profound Yin Mirror had appeared out of nowhere, unleashing a terrifying blast of frigid light that condensed into an ice-cold dragon, coiling around the flame dragon as they charged together toward the robed figure.
「Half-Step Heavenly Being! How is this possible!」 The robed man's eyes widened in horror, completely caught off guard by your sudden, explosive power surge.
Since Ye Fan had never obtained the Nine Steps to Treading the Heavens, this was the first time you'd ever unleashed this power in this simulation—catching him completely off guard...
Whoosh!
A second Profound Yin Mirror suddenly materialized in your other hand, firing a beam of Profound Yin Divine Light that struck the robed man dead-on, freezing him solid in an instant...
BOOM!
The intertwined fire and ice dragons slammed into the frozen robed figure, swallowing him whole in a blinding explosion of energy...
「AHHHHH!!!」
In that moment, you'd unleashed every last one of your trump cards, holding nothing back. Your only thought was to kill this bastard once and for all...