C609 Fiancee's Pleasure!
Emerald flames unfurled like petals, unveiling Lim Zhuyun from her concealment within the "flower bud."
For ages, she had kept her true form hidden, resembling a solitary bamboo in a tranquil mountain brook—proud, defiant, and detached from the world.
She had grown taller, hovering amidst the swirling jade flames, radiating an indifference that seemed to penetrate the essence of life, familial bonds, and the affection of her sect. She was aloof from all worldly emotions.
This detachment mirrored the Ice Flame encircling her—chilling, unfeeling, emanating a frosty aura.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
Bursts of golden fire collided with the escaping green Ice Flame at her feet, igniting a blinding conflagration that sent shivers down one's spine.
A frigid moon hovered seven inches above her head, shining as brilliantly as a resplendent diadem.
The master of this reconstructed flesh donned a snow-white robe, his hollow eyes ablaze with golden flames that roared fiercely.
But these were not like the Ice Flame; the golden fire in his gaze exuded a potent vitality.
He seemed like an alien beast from the Boundless Great World, his heart ablaze, conjuring a deluge of blood that forged an oppressive power.
Lim Zhuyun gazed upon this not as her true self, but as a corporeal form crafted from the ether.
She was aware that the true form of this domain's master remained in the Outland Starry Sky.
To extract the Sword Prison to the Desolate Swamp, the master would need to merge his true form with the Yin God and Yang God in the Great Swamp, a feat that could only be accomplished from beyond, with a strategy that spanned both the inside and the outside, cloaking the Sword Prison in the mists of the Desolate God's domain.
Yet, to accomplish this, the master would inevitably pay a steep price.
The cost was that his strength could not possibly peak in the near term!
Otherwise, he wouldn't be limited to just a snow-white robe, fluttering in the wind.
It wasn't a deliberate mystique; it was a reluctant necessity.
Deprived of the residual power of the Sword Prison, and under the boon of the evil statue, he infused the snow-white robe with his essence, allowing a fragment of his soul to craft a body of flesh and blood. Consequently, the master's strength here was diminished.
Even now, compared to his true self concealed within the Outland Star River, he was insignificant.
Otherwise, Lin Zhuyun would have been subdued by him long ago.
"Please don't stand in my way."
Lim Zhuyun, who hadn't spoken in ages, felt her mouth twitch slightly. Speaking now felt awkward, unnatural to her.
She had grown accustomed to being regarded as nothing more than a puppet, possessed by an Outland Devaputra.
A puppet shouldn't possess its own thoughts, its own clear consciousness, or speak out of turn.
Over time, she found that actions spoke louder than words, that achieving her goals through brutal, bloodthirsty means was simpler and more satisfying.
After all, in the eyes of others, she was no longer herself, but merely a Devaputra.
The reason she chose to speak now was that this body's owner, a mere shell that couldn't even be called a clone, was obstructing her escape.
She preferred not to expend unnecessary energy on this body's owner.
Since he had seen through her disguise and knew she wasn't possessed by a Devaputra, and knew who she truly was, there was no longer any point in concealment.
"Little girl, I have no choice but to stop you."
President Lyi, encased in a white robe with flesh and blood regenerating over sturdy bones, gazed at her with eyes ablaze with golden flames, and said apologetically, "The shock from the Chaos Roc forced you to absorb soul power to fortify the Devaputra within you. Indeed, you aided me in the Cold Abyss years ago."
"And what of it?" Lim Zhuyun responded indifferently. "Do you, of all people, still hold onto past sentiments?"
"She is of use to me; I made her a promise," the owner of the body replied with a gentle nod and earnest tone. "As long as she's not entirely gone and retains her consciousness, I am bound to save her. But it's not just about saving her; I also need you to be controllable, to be at our beck and call."
With that, he stepped aside.
Behind him, Yu Yuan, piloting the Evil Cauldron, swooped in, and in a flash, the Evil Cauldron and the pristine white robe were suspended side by side in midair.
"I must ask you both, please prevent this young lady from the Cold Yin Sect from shattering the space and escaping."
The master made his request from afar to the teacher and student still by the statue.
"President Lyi, you're too kind!"
The portly elder burst into hearty laughter, feeling not only unbothered by being bossed around but actually honored by the task.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Together with his apprentice, they traversed the void, teleporting while stealthily casting spells.
"Crack crack crack!"
Space contracted like a giant balloon, slowly deflating and collapsing inward.
Lim Zhuyun sensed she was at the epicenter of this deflating balloon.
Her room to maneuver was rapidly diminishing. Soon, she would be ensnared by the constricting space, struggling even to move.
Yet, she didn't rush to fight back or lash out in desperation. Suspended in midair, she fixed Yu Yuan with an eerily intense gaze.
A mocking, icy smile played at her lips. "Even you have your day of reckoning."
"What are you implying?" Yu Yuan inquired.
"I'm not addressing you; I'm speaking to the entity that seeks to possess you," Lim Zhuyun retorted, a surge of exhilaration welling up within her, tempting her to shout out in triumph.
Yu Yuan, thought to be so formidable?
Didn't you overturn the odds in the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, the Absence Relic, and Darkmoon City with your modest level of power?
Didn't you command the obedience and subservience of Kong Banbi, as well as members of the Red Devil Sect, Blood God Cult, Filthy Spirit Sect, and even the Sword Sect?
Didn't you coldly watch me get captured, indifferent to my fate, disregarding whether I lived or died?
Didn't you reject me as your betrothed, deeming it a disgrace, and choose to dishonor me alongside other women in every conceivable way?
Didn't you manage to extricate yourself from the Crack Archipelago and enter Babel Island alive?
You, Yu Yuan, with such immense power, intelligence, and fortune, how did you fall to such lows? How were you overpowered by the malevolent soul within an evil statue?
I, with my wisdom and fortune, persuaded the Starry Behemoth to aid me in altering the course of events. How could you lose?
You, Yu Yuan, you've earned your fate!
These thoughts cascaded through Lim Zhuyun's mind, seemingly oblivious to the tightening space around her and the dwindling chances of escape.
She was overcome with satisfaction!
Her satisfaction stemmed from Yu Yuan's downfall—he had been overtaken by the malevolent soul of an evil statue, his own spirit smothered and suppressed!
Lim Zhuyun reveled in her liberation, her essence and core self still intact.
But Yu Yuan had been defeated!
She attributed all her misfortune to Yu Yuan. Without him, without this so-called fiancé, would she—the Empire's celebrated New Moon—have suffered such a fate?
She even suspected that Yu Yuan had never been foolish at all!
To spite her, to spite the Lim family, he must have feigned madness all along! He made sure the entire Empire believed her betrothed was a talentless cultivator, a simpleton oblivious to the world!
Otherwise, why did he suddenly awaken and ascend with unstoppable force when Yinn Jue struck him down?
Was it not because, faced with death's threat, he could no longer maintain the charade?
She believed her tragic life, the downfall and extinction of her family, were all a result of Yu Yuan's pretense. He had destroyed her, destroyed her lineage!
Time and again, he struck at her with various methods, disregarding her existence.
She was convinced that Yu Yuan was to blame for her transformation into someone so frantic, so fiercely unfeeling.
"I am him, and he is me. Speaking to you is no different than speaking to him."
Within the Evil Cauldron, Yu Yuan's eyes held a mysterious depth akin to the enigmatic Chaos Abyss of the Outer Star River, brimming with infinite enigmas, as if capable of capturing one's very soul. "You've been possessed by the Devaputra before; you ought to understand that sometimes the two cannot be entirely separated."
"No, I am aware of that state." Lim Zhuyun shook her head. "I've experienced that despair and helplessness, in the darkness, the Devaputra slowly peeling away my memories, my spirit, claiming everything that was mine. Fully aware it was an endless nightmare, yet powerless to awaken."
"I've had a similar ordeal. I'm glad he's now in the same boat, even worse off than I was."
"Good, this is good. Even without obtaining the Sword Prison, this outcome alone satisfies me."
She had journeyed to the Sword Prison, forged from the essence of the Moon Soul, with a clear purpose. Her plan was to refine the Moon Soul with the frigid moon in her possession, assimilating it into her being to swiftly enhance her power and break free from the vast expanse of the Boundless Land with utmost haste.
She was acutely aware that once the three Upper Sects—the Demon Palace and the Devil Palace—had their hands untied in the outside world, they would undoubtedly consolidate their power internally. When that moment arrived, her plight would be dire, and even the Chaos Roc, the source of all her gains, would face insurmountable challenges.
"I don't care who you are. Since I've had the audacity to come here, no one can stop me when I decide to leave," she declared, her gaze shifting from Yu Yuan's face back to the master of the domain. "My warning to let me pass is not just for you, but for everyone else too—you, and you, all of you."
Her eyes then turned to Yan Qiling and her apprentice, who were approaching at a leisurely pace. "It would be in your best interest to heed my words."
