In the chamber deep within the Yang Yuan mine, Lin Jing anxiously watched the two figures sitting silently with their eyes shut. Her gaze flitted between Xiao Yan and Qing Tan, her brows furrowed in unease. It wasn't that she doubted Xiao Yan's abilities—far from it—but she was all too familiar with the infamy of the Eternal Illusion Demon Flower. Even someone as powerful as Qing Tan had fallen victim to it with almost no resistance. So how could she not worry that Xiao Yan might end up trapped in the illusion alongside her aunt?
However, her worries didn't last long. Qing Tan's eyelids fluttered slightly, then her fingers twitched. A few moments later, she slowly opened her eyes. Awareness returned to her gaze, and as familiar memories surged back into her mind, she quickly understood what had happened.
'So I actually fell into a trap laid by the Yimo… how careless.'
She turned to look at Xiao Yan, whose eyes remained shut in deep meditation. A faint trace of guilt flickered in her expression. Even knowing the illusion wasn't real, she couldn't help but feel conflicted. After all, what Xiao Yan had done in that illusion... was truly outrageous.
Just as she was beginning to feel a rising urge to slap him as payback, a cry of joy rang out.
"Thank goodness, Auntie! You're finally awake!" Lin Jing practically leapt into her arms.
"Jing'er..." Qing Tan gently patted her niece's back. Her heart softened with guilt. In the illusion, she had nearly abandoned Lin Jing in favor of those fake relatives. Recalling the things Xiao Yan had yelled at her during the illusion, she let out a long, heavy sigh.
'That bastard… he might be insufferable, but everything he said was true.'
"Eh?" Lin Jing suddenly noticed Xiao Yan, still sitting motionless with eyes tightly shut. She stepped out of Qing Tan's embrace and asked, puzzled, "Why hasn't Teacher woken up yet?"
"You call him your teacher?" Qing Tan raised an eyebrow, visibly surprised. "You accepted him as your master?"
"Mhm," Lin Jing nodded, not bothering to explain in detail. Instead, she tugged at Qing Tan's sleeve and urged, "Auntie, take a look at him. Could it be that he's also been affected by the Eternal Illusion Demon Flower?"
Qing Tan's brows furrowed as she extended her soul sense toward Xiao Yan. After a moment of careful examination, she slowly shook her head. "It doesn't feel like the Eternal Illusion Demon Flower is affecting him... but there's something strange about the fluctuations in his body. It has a hint of reincarnation to it."
"Could he be undergoing a Reincarnation Tribulation?" Lin Jing asked hesitantly.
"With his strength, he shouldn't need to cross another Reincarnation Tribulation..." Qing Tan's eyes narrowed slightly. "The energy in him... it feels like the threshold of the Ancestor Realm."
Lin Jing's eyes widened in disbelief. "You mean... Teacher is breaking through to the Ancestor Realm?"
"I don't know for sure..." Qing Tan offered a helpless smile. "I've never stepped into that realm myself. But I've sensed a similar aura before, during the great battle more than ten years ago. That's why I suspect it."
"Either way, it doesn't look like he's in any danger," she continued as she gently patted Lin Jing's shoulder. "We just have to wait. He'll probably wake up on his own soon."
Just as she finished speaking, Qing Tan's expression suddenly darkened. Her eyes snapped to a dark patch on the wall nearby. The shadow began to ripple. A moment later, a pitch-black silhouette slowly stepped out from the darkness.
"Well, well. Who would've thought you'd manage to break free from the Eternal Illusion Demon Flower? Looks like luck is on your side," the newcomer said in a voice that was low and grim.
Though the man appeared mostly human, the left side of his face bore a gruesome scar, as if someone had nearly hacked his head in half.
"Third Seat King!" Qing Tan's expression grew cold as she recognized the intruder. Her hand clenched tightly at her side. Clearly, she knew exactly who he was.
Lin Jing's face also turned pale. She had heard the name before. In the hierarchy of the Yimo, aside from the Emperor himself, there existed the Ten Seat Kings, and this man—Third Seat King—ranked third among them.
His strength was equivalent to someone who had crossed the Reincarnation Tribulation three times. In the entire Yimo clan, he was considered one of the elite. Even at full strength, Qing Tan couldn't confidently say she would defeat him in a head-on fight. And now, she had to protect not only herself and Lin Jing, but also Xiao Yan, who was in the middle of cultivating.
"Eh?" As Third Seat King scanned the room, his gaze landed on Xiao Yan. When he sensed the fluctuations emanating from the youth's body, his expression shifted slightly.
"I came here to eliminate you," he said to Qing Tan, "but I didn't expect to stumble upon such a surprise... So this low-grade plane is hiding someone who's not only reached the Third Calamity Reincarnation stage, but is even brushing up against the Ancestor Realm."
There was a trace of envy in his tone. He, too, had been stuck at this level for countless years and had yet to catch even a glimpse of the path ahead. Yet here was someone younger than him by perhaps a thousandfold, and he had already set foot on the threshold.
'If another Ancestor-level cultivator rises on this continent... things could get very troublesome.'
Even though their Emperor now possessed the power to slay Ancestors, if it were possible to eliminate the threat before it fully matured, why wouldn't they?
Qing Tan instantly understood his intentions. She summoned her scythe with a wave of her hand and stepped in front of Xiao Yan, shielding him.
'If Xiao Yan truly has the potential to step into the Ancestor Realm... then I must keep him safe, no matter the cost. Only Ancestor-level power can stand against the Yimo Emperor. Only an Ancestor can save this world again!'
"You won't be able to stop me," Third Seat King said, his voice calm and arrogant. Though they were both at the Three Calamity Reincarnation level, he had lingered at this stage far longer than she had. His understanding of reincarnation was deeper, more profound.
And though the Reincarnation stage didn't have rigid subdivisions, there was still a clear gap in actual power. If measured by the standards of the Dou Qi continent, Qing Tan might be comparable to a Seven-Star Dou Sheng, whereas Third Seat King was closer to a Nine-Star Dou Sheng.
Qing Tan understood the gap between them well. She knew she couldn't defeat him—but she didn't need to. All she had to do was stall.
'Just buy time. As long as I can delay him long enough for Xiao Yan to wake up, we'll have a chance. Even if he hasn't broken through, the two of us together can defeat him.'
With that thought in mind, she charged forward, scythe gleaming with deadly light, slashing toward Third Seat King with all her might.
Meanwhile, behind her, the fingers of the supposedly unconscious Xiao Yan... twitched.
(End of Chapter)
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