Clap clap clap~
Applause rang out. Chu Lian turned her gaze toward the source. Wang Hao stood in a dark corner, completely unscathed, elegantly clapping his hands.
"As expected of her daughter. To possess such strength at your age—if you were allowed to keep growing, wouldn't that be even more terrifying? Back then, she made countless elders feel ashamed and left the entire younger generation in her shadow. I never imagined that you, as her daughter, would surpass your predecessor. Truly, does the Chu family simply produce monsters?"
"Wang Hao, your strength is greater than mine. But I will not fear you."
In Chu Lian's perception, Wang Hao's cultivation was only at peak Earth rank. That was the level she had barely been able to contend with just now. If she could find a flaw in him, she might even be able to kill him in an instant.
However, Wang Hao paid no mind to her words. He merely lowered his voice and spoke slowly.
"I planned for so long. I never expected something to go wrong at the very last moment. It seems if I don't reveal a bit more of my strength, that won't do."
He lifted his head. Behind his glasses, his gaze turned ice-cold in an instant.
"Although I apologize, for now, I must trouble you to come with me."
An extreme sense of danger surged over her.
Inori's spirit trembled. And Suicune, who had been guarding Chu Lian all this time, shuddered violently as if it had encountered a natural predator.
"My lord, run. This human... is extremely dangerous."
Suicune gritted its teeth and forced out the words, its body still trembling. If not for the one it had sworn to protect standing beside it, it would likely have already turned and fled.
This was not about dignity.
This was about survival.
The feeling the other party gave it was like standing before a creator god—an existence impossible to resist, impossible to block, so overwhelming that even the thought of resistance could not arise.
"You truly are not simple..."
Chu Lian also sensed the lethal danger. But she could not run, nor was there anywhere to run.
Although Wang Hao's cultivation still appeared to be at peak Earth rank, the aura he was now releasing had already surpassed that Heaven rank dragon she had encountered after emerging from the Land of Exile.
"Not simple? No, no. Compared to you, I'm actually quite a simple person. So simple that anyone can see at a glance what kind of man I am."
The aura around Wang Hao grew more and more terrifying. The pressure it generated even caused the underground passage to begin collapsing slightly.
"Even if you're not simple, at least you're not as complicated as I am. Because I would never scheme like this. I would never make my own kin into sacrifices just to achieve my goals."
Chu Lian shook her head. She did not deny that she herself was complicated—but she refused to be placed in the same category as Wang Hao.
"Haha. Everything I've done... was only to obtain you."
He did not finish the sentence. But Chu Lian understood.
What he meant by obtaining her was not her body, nor anything like that. It was something she possessed—something he needed. Most likely, the system.
Even knowing the system would not be so easily taken, even knowing Ayase was prepared to strike at any moment, Chu Lian still could not tolerate anyone coveting what she cherished and what was hers.
She bit down on her teeth and cursed in a low voice.
"Shameless."
"One who seeks great things does not concern himself with trifles. If it weren't for securing a safe refuge and making others my shield, would I have needed to strike a deal with those undead idiots?"
Wang Hao did not reveal his entire plan. But even just those two steps alone, executed so effortlessly, were enough to shock Chu Lian.
If someone like him had devoted his talent to the righteous path, it would have been a blessing for all cultivators in the present world.
Instead, for the sake of his own selfish desires, he defected to the Otherside.
One could only say fate toyed with men.
Perhaps for someone like him, the Otherside was truly where he belonged.
But no matter what, Chu Lian could never forgive such a person.
Even though his aura had now reached peak Heaven rank—so oppressive that it left her breathless—she showed no fear. Her large eyes locked onto him, filled only with contempt.
"Are you trying to intimidate me?"
Seeing that the girl had not yielded, but instead remained so stubborn, Wang Hao was startled. She continued to exceed his expectations. If she were allowed to grow, she would undoubtedly become his greatest enemy in the future.
Unfortunately, there would be no such opportunity.
Even if this was not his full strength, in this state it was more than enough to capture this little creature while guarding against the possibility of even stronger opponents appearing.
"Come with me obediently."
He appeared behind Chu Lian in an instant. His hand struck toward the back of her neck. If it landed, with his special ability, he could almost immediately render the girl unconscious and leave her entirely at his mercy.
But man proposes, Heaven disposes.
While he calculated against Chu Lian, she was calculating against him.
At the moment he made his move, Ayase's figure—dressed in blazing red—appeared behind him.
Her leg swept out in a side kick. The top of her foot smashed into his cheek, sending him flying a considerable distance.
"Little Lian'er, leave this place."
"Forgive me. I may have to break my promise this time. This opponent is not so simple. This trip... it will take a long time before I return."
"But don't worry. I will come back. Even if it's from hell itself, I will carve out a path of survival and return to your side."
Ayase's appearance did not ease Chu Lian's tension. Instead, her words only made her more anxious.
Yet Ayase had already made up her mind. She gave Chu Lian no chance to speak.
She lifted the stiffened girl and placed her onto Suicune's back. Patting Suicune's head, she said, "Take her away. Then let Eve appear to deal with the aftermath. Do not come back here again. At most, three months—I'll return. Trust me..."
The first sentence was for Suicune.
The last was for Chu Lian.
"Rest assured. As long as everything here is resolved, it counts as quest completion. So don't worry. If I haven't returned, none of you are to come to the Wang family. Because this will become one of the most dangerous places in the world."
Wang Hao rose from where he had been kicked away, twisting his neck. He did not attack. He did not speak. He merely watched Ayase instruct Chu Lian while silently recovering his injuries.
The woman before him was an exceptionally powerful enemy.
More suffocating than when he had once faced Li Mingxue.
The violent aura within his body warned him that unless he unleashed all his strength, he would have no way to contend with this woman.
But now, he had already reached the upper limit of the world's energy barrier.
If he raised his power any further, the world's will would undoubtedly expel him from this world.
And if he wished to return again, who knew how long it would take.
By then, Chu Lian might already have grown into a supreme powerhouse beyond his ability to resist.
However, making him give up was absolutely impossible.
Even if he had to stake his life on it, he would realize his dream. As long as he could seize the divinity within Chu Lian and lie low, once he became a Supreme God, he would certainly be able to accomplish it.
"This is not the battlefield..."
Watching Suicune carry Chu Lian and soar upward through the air, Ayase murmured softly.
In the next instant, an aura erupted from her body—several times stronger than Wang Hao's. Yet the energy within her remained firmly at peak Heaven rank, not exceeding the limit that would trigger expulsion by the world's will.
"This rift has no reason to exist anymore."
Ayase glanced at the crack in space. Under the pressure of her aura, it had stopped expanding and instead began shrinking rapidly. She spoke lightly.
"I underestimated you all. I knew of your existence, yet I was never able to find you. After that great battle half a month ago, when you disappeared, I assumed you were severely injured and had gone into seclusion. I never imagined you weren't injured at all—and had been following Chu Lian the entire time. I miscalculated. I truly miscalculated."
Wang Hao had no choice but to admit his failure.
There were too many uncontrollable variables around Chu Lian. His plans had gone wrong again and again. It could only be said that Heaven did not favor him.
"And now? What do you intend to do?"
Ayase would not be naive enough to think that merely because her strength could suppress him, she could afford to underestimate Wang Hao.
In her perception, he had always carried the highest level of danger warning.
Which meant he still possessed many unknowns—including his true strongest power.
"At this point, capturing her is nearly impossible. As for you and me, deciding victory or defeat in the present world is also impossible. Let the Otherside become our battlefield."
What if he was unwilling? What of it?
The opponent's strength far exceeded expectations.
In this situation, he could neither leave nor retreat. The only way to salvage anything was to fight a decisive battle in the Otherside.
Even if it meant this passage would vanish, and he would need at least three years before he could return, it was still better than total failure.
At least then, there would remain a chance.
In three years, even if she advanced to Heaven rank, she would not be his match.
If he could eliminate the woman before him, he would have already succeeded halfway.
"As you wish."
That had been Ayase's intention from the start.
Since he had proposed it, she did not object.
She watched as Wang Hao suppressed his energy back down to peak Earth rank and slipped into the spacetime rift. Then she turned around, gazing at the moonlight streaming down from the collapsed sinkhole above, and spoke softly.
"Little Lian'er... once again, I gaze up at you from hell. When I return, I will never leave you again..."
Turning back, she walked forward with elegant steps and slowly entered the spacetime rift.
The surging energy was more than the rift could endure.
After she stepped inside, it suddenly swelled violently, spat out a shadowy figure—and then shrank in an instant into a single black point, vanishing without a trace.
After it disappeared, somewhere within Huaxia, a black dot manifested out of thin air. It slowly absorbed surrounding energy, waiting for its next opening...
"Why... did I come out?"
It was a peculiar "man." His body and appearance were human, yet his hands were anything but flesh and blood. They gleamed with a metallic sheen, like dark iron.
Five claws, razor-sharp. In his right hand, he gripped a long, coldly gleaming guandao.
His aura was unmistakably Heaven rank.
"Regardless, I've finally arrived in the present world. Let me restore the glory of the Rakshasa clan. Where is the Daughter of Fate?"
He scanned his surroundings but saw no one.
Where had the human who promised to share the spoils of capturing the Daughter of Fate gone?
"Ahhh! Where is the Daughter of Fate?"
He found nothing.
Yet above, there seemed to be a peculiar pull. That must be the Daughter of Fate, right?
With that thought, he drove his legs forward in a sprint. Reaching the bottom of the sinkhole, he leapt upward. In just a few seconds, he shot up to the surface.
And then—
Then an immeasurable force bound his body in place.
Crystal began forming over every part of him.
Before he could even react, an irresistible blade of light swept across him, cleaving him cleanly in two.
The Deathblow effect attached to it activated.
In his mind, only a single thought remained.
I, the Azure Emperor... to die in a place like this... The glory of the Rakshasa clan...
After that, his consciousness vanished completely.