Wherefore did Jiang Yan oft speak of seizing the White Bone Holy Body, yet showed no haste in his neglect of Jiang Wang, with his occasional urgings devoid of anxiety?

‘Twas not because he deemed Jiang Wang’s strength insufficient, thus granting him time and patience.

Nay, for fundamentally, what he ever desired was Jiang Wang’s very flesh and blood, his physical form!

The so-called White Bone Holy Body was but a ruse, a veil cast to lower Jiang Wang’s guard, to make him believe there yet remained choices, that they were not irreconcilable foes locked in a life-and-death struggle.

For at its core, the identity of “Jiang Wang’s nightmare” was a falsehood. He was Zhuang Chengqian, and from the outset, he was not Jiang Wang’s negative self.

On the contrary, he effortlessly nurtured Jiang Wang’s shadow self, controlled his heart demon, and toyed with Jiang Wang as if in the palm of his hand.

Now, he desired to play no longer, and revealed his true face.

Having resided within Jiang Wang’s Tongtian Palace for so long, this was the first time he manifested his original form.

And his emergence coincided with the moment when the overall situation was already decided!

Looking back upon Zhuang Chengqian’s life, never had he known defeat.

In the era of Emperor Yongming, Han Zhou, he was the undefeated general, a name whispered with awe. Deeply trusted by Han Zhou, he bore the responsibility of expanding the kingdom’s borders, acting as a de facto feudal lord, stationed in the rear while Han Zhou contended in the north.

After Han Zhou’s demise, he carved out his own territory and declared himself king. He battled fiercely in the Qi Chang Mountains, repelling Han Yin’s full force assault on the Yong Kingdom. Furthermore, under the avaricious gaze of Qin, he, representing the Jing Kingdom, cemented the influence of the Daoist sects in the western borderlands.

He swore an oath of brotherhood with Song Hengjiang, and throughout his life, the water tribe of Qingjiang remained the most loyal allies of the Zhuang Kingdom, time and again shedding blood in battle.

He borrowed the power of the White Bone Dao to establish his kingdom, then turned around and extinguished the very White Bone Dao that the White Bone Zunshen had personally established. At that time, the White Bone Dao was a power far beyond the era of Ouyang Lie and Lu Yan.

In his life, his only perceived failure was his death during the counterattack preceding the White Bone Dao’s demise.

Yet now it seems… since he did not truly perish, that time perhaps cannot even be counted as a failure. More likely, it was a calculated move, a grand layout.

Sending forth the Hate-Eating Moth to battle the Divine Soul Flame Sparrow dispatched by Jiang Wang was, for an invincible general like him, a mere child’s play, an effortlessly executed defeat.

He had been undefeated his entire life; this time, there was even less reason for him to fall.

He had already stripped away half of Jiang Wang’s divine soul power, destroyed his heart demon, severed the vital energy support from the Ling Kong Hall of Yun Ding Immortal Palace, struck down the Dao Pulse True Spirit, the Entwining Star Python, seized the sword in Jiang Wang’s hand, and eliminated the threat to Song Wanxi.

The situation was so utterly clear, his single strike was bound to succeed, carrying an aura of invincibility.

Just as Jiang Wang had damaged his divine soul origin to invite the heart demon’s intervention, so too did he activate the Dao Pulse True Spirit for aid, seeking a way to break the deadlock.

But the same outcome played out once more. Zhuang Chengqian manifested his true form, easily removing the Entwining Star Python from the battlefield.

And Jiang Wang was once again a solitary figure, sword in hand, facing Zhuang Chengqian.

He could clearly sense Zhuang Chengqian’s formidable power, an unassailable strength, even in his ethereal state.

But this time, he would not retreat, nor was there any opportunity to do so.

Zhuang Chengqian, too, could clearly sense Jiang Wang’s weakness, his powerlessness.

The sword arrived.

The fierce sword momentum was effortlessly scattered by a single slap.

Zhuang Chengqian’s palm continued its advance, and Jiang Wang suddenly released his grip on the sword, embracing the approaching hand instead!

This was simply the most foolish of choices.

At this moment, Jiang Wang’s greatest reliance was the long sword manifested by the sword spirit, yet he cast it aside.

And given the immense power gap, Zhuang Chengqian could, with a mere casual exertion of force, scatter his divine soul origin.

This appeared truly, utterly foolish!

But in such a winning situation, Zhuang Chengqian’s brows furrowed.

Having resided within Jiang Wang’s body for so long, knowing him for so long, he understood with absolute clarity that this youth was not foolish at all. On the contrary, he was an exceptional genius, a true scion of heaven.

He had more confidence in Jiang Wang’s combat talent than Jiang Wang himself.

Therefore, for the first time, he retreated.

But… it was too late!

Realms shifted, hearts turned, eyes grew confused, spirits dizzy.

Only a sorrowful female voice could be heard singing—

“Ask the world, who can be without guilt? To the bitter sea, overturn this body.”

“Moreover, cross the heart’s tribulation.”

It was the Red Makeup Mirror!

Jiang Wang activating the Entwining Star Python’s hidden maneuver was precisely for this moment, waiting for Zhuang Chengqian to expose more of his divine soul, then pulling his divine soul, together, into the mirror world of the Red Makeup Mirror.

Because Zhuang Chengqian resided within Jiang Wang’s body, and was substantially altering his own divine soul to adapt to that vessel, in a certain sense, he could also be considered Jiang Wang. Bringing him into the mirror world to undergo tribulation together was entirely feasible, and Jiang Wang had indeed achieved it!

From the very beginning, even when he could not yet confirm Jiang Yan’s true form, Jiang Wang understood with clarity. Jiang Yan was exceedingly familiar with him, to the point of discerning life and death, and he would inevitably face all-encompassing targeting and suppression.

Jiang Yan possessed strength and experience surpassing his own, and was so familiar with him. Using any method exposed before Jiang Yan was impossible to truly defeat him.

The method to defeat Jiang Yan could only be sought from the parts of Jiang Yan that remained unknown.

Thus, he was always seeking, even creating the unknown, always exploring variables, making preparations to break the situation.

Deeply researching divine soul Dao techniques within his inner mansion was one such preparation; severing his divine soul origin to nurture his heart demon was another; and the mysterious Red Makeup Mirror was yet another!

The transformations within the Red Makeup Mirror all occurred within the mirror itself. Each time one entered the Red Makeup Mirror, Jiang Yan could not know what transpired within.

No matter who Jiang Yan was, whether truly another self, or Zhuang Chengqian, or a White Bone avatar.

Pulling him into the tribulation together was a choice to break the deadlock.

Fundamentally, this was still introducing a third-party force to traverse the situation between him and Zhuang Chengqian, to bridge the gap in their strength.

It was no different in essence from the act of nurturing Jiang Yan to enter the game.

The core principle for the weak against the strong is none other than strengthening oneself internally and forming strong alliances externally.

Han Xu introduced Zhuang Gao Xian to slay Han Yin, introduced the forces of the Mo Gate to reform politics. In the past, Zhuang Chengqian introduced the White Bone Dao to establish his kingdom, introduced Daoist forces to counter the influences of Qin and Yong; all were manifestations of such means.

However, forming strong alliances externally requires extremely superb control of proportions. A single careless mistake can lead to inviting wolves into the house, resulting in utter annihilation.

Han Xu, of course, was a master of this, completely achieving all his strategic goals. Zhuang Chengqian was even more superior, achieving a win-win scenario where he devoured all the benefits.

And Jiang Wang’s first attempt at introducing the heart demon was still somewhat controlled. His second attempt, pulling Zhuang Chengqian into the mirror world, was a gamble born of helplessness.

For he himself could not determine whether he could pass the next tribulation within the Red Makeup Mirror! But this was his only path to gamble.

Of course, his opponent was Zhuang Chengqian. Under the gaze and targeting of an existence like Zhuang Chengqian, to still be able to accomplish this, to still be able to struggle forth an opportunity to gamble, was already immensely impressive.

The ancient and vast Tongtian Palace stood empty for a time. The ceaselessly battling Jiang Wang and Zhuang Chengqian had vanished, fallen into the mirror world of the Red Makeup Mirror.

And the Entwining Star Python lay curled on the ground, gasping for breath.

Only the sword spirit, previously released by Jiang Wang, leisurely rose again, confronting the dimly lit Ming Candle in mid-air.

The sword striking the Ming Candle was precisely the hidden move left behind by Jiang Wang when he forcibly pulled Zhuang Chengqian into the tribulation.

If the sword spirit could strive a little, extinguishing the Ming Candle in this individual struggle, perhaps it could even influence the war situation…

Jiang Wang and Zhuang Chengqian battled intensely within the Tongtian Palace, and even as both fell into the mirror world of the Red Makeup Mirror, they did not notice the changes occurring in the glass coffin pointed to by the physical body holding the sword—

The gold talisman pasted upon the peerlessly beautiful demon’s red lips lifted high, and the chains binding her body clattered.

Those eyes, which had always been half-open, suddenly glared wide.

The insane killing intent within them was almost enough to burst forth from the glass coffin!