**(Volume Twelve: Immortals’ Astral, Tenth Sun, Second Watch)**

The elder’s gaze sharpened as he listened, his eyes once more scrutinizing Liu Jinbiao. Upon closer inspection, an unease settled within him. Liu Jinbiao’s cultivation was merely Golden Core, yet a profound sense of age clung to him, a feeling of epochs endured.

“You contemplate a soul-search, no doubt,” Liu Jinbiao stated, his voice as frigid as the heart of winter. “But I tell you this: ere you complete your violation, my master shall arrive. Ruin and desolation are the fate that awaits your Cloud Gate!”

“Even if Lonely Peak Celestial descends, reason must prevail! It is you who began with deception!” the elder retorted, unable to fathom the depths of the man before him. Such befuddlement was a rare occurrence, made all the more unsettling by the apparent sincerity of Liu Jinbiao’s composure. What assurance could he possess to stand so firm?

“Deception? I am Liu Jinbiao, a master of the art of guile! What is it to me to deceive your paltry Cloud Gate? Have I stolen lives? Have I absconded with your treasured artifacts?

“I merely guided mortals with aspirations of cultivation to your doorstep, receiving paltry elixirs in return. Did you believe I, Liu, would find such things desirable?” Liu Jinbiao’s face twisted into a sneer. With a flourish, he struck his storage pouch, causing a mountain of pills to spill forth, littering the ground before him.

“Behold! Within this heap lie a few score of your Cloud Gate’s concoctions. These elixirs are but a byproduct of my deceptive art. Did you truly believe I coveted such things?” Laughter echoed as he swept his hand, shattering the pills into dust.

The sudden display momentarily stunned the elder.

“Elixirs are but the beginning! I have hoodwinked many a soul of their magical treasures! Yet you imagine I crave such baubles?” Liu Jinbiao spat with disdain, striking his pouch once more. Dozens of magical artifacts, fit for a Golden Core cultivator, emerged, only to be obliterated with a flick of his sleeve, reduced to worthless shards.

“I tell you, these trifles are beneath the notice of the great Jinbiao Immortal! Dare to violate my soul, and I shall bring about the utter annihilation of your Cloud Gate! Consider your choice well. Farewell!” With a final sneer, Liu Jinbiao turned his back on the bewildered elder and strode toward the palace exit.

He walked with unwavering steps, his brow unmarred by sweat, his heart beating steadily. At that moment, he believed every word he had spoken. Where was there room for fear?

As he departed the palace, the elder stood transfixed, his face a mask of dark thought. He stared at the shattered remains of the elixirs and artifacts, unable to discern truth from falsehood.

Such a situation was foreign to him!

“Is he telling the truth, or weaving a grand lie? If it is a lie, how could he remain so calm, so dismissive as to destroy such a trove of goods? Though they are of low grade, the act suggests that he has deceived countless others…”

“He has survived his deceptions for so long; there must be a reason!”

“If he speaks the truth, then I cannot afford to provoke him. After all, he is right: he has not claimed lives, nor has he taken treasured artifacts; only paltry elixirs…” The elder was lost in thought.

Outside, Liu Jinbiao found his path blocked by Cloud Gate disciples.

Wang Lin, who had witnessed the events, was taken aback. He had expected Liu Jinbiao to face dire consequences. But the turn of events had been too sudden, too dramatic. Even Wang Lin could not help but feel a sliver of admiration for the man.

“That performance… was too convincing…” Wang Lin chuckled ruefully.

The elder, watching the scene from within the palace, wrestled with his doubts.

“Had I known it would be so complicated, I would have left him be! Why did I summon him in the first place? Although it is better to err on the side of caution, to let him leave after being so easily swayed by his words would be…” The elder bit his lip, his eyes flashing with a spark of resolve.

But at that moment, Liu Jinbiao spun around, striking his storage pouch once more. In his hand appeared a palm-sized black wooden tablet, which he brandished toward the elder within the palace.

“Consider this, and you have three breaths to decide!” Liu Jinbiao spoke calmly, his voice steely.

The elder seized the tablet. One glance was enough to drain the color from his face. Etched upon its surface were two words, clear and unmistakable:

*Lonely Peak*

“The material is common, merely a piece of ordinary wood. Yet upon it lingers a faint aura of disquiet, an aura of death! This is no ordinary talisman! And the calligraphy itself exudes an unparalleled air of isolation. This… this is not the work of a common cultivator! The very strokes contain a universe within them!” The elder, who had been wavering, now found his conviction strengthened.

Had Liu Jinbiao produced the tablet from the start, the elder would have suspected a trap. But after the preceding dialogue, the effect was far greater.

“One… two…” Liu Jinbiao began to count. Before he could utter the word “three,” the elder gritted his teeth and flung the tablet back, the missile now caught in Liu Jinbiao’s hand, then carried to his ears, an icy voice echoed in his mind.

“Open the gates. Let him… go!”

The Cloud Gate disciples were stunned. Their sect, situated in the Great Sacred Continent, was merely a low-level congregation. Their only Third Step Nirvana Shatterer, the sect’s founder, lived as a recluse, closed off to the world.

And as for the elder, who was but a mere Heaven-Human cultivator… he dare not gamble for so little.

Liu Jinbiao maintained his composed facade, but inwardly he snorted. With a flourish, he left the Cloud Gate, transforming into a streak of light that shot into the distance. Only after traveling far, far away into a dense, ancient forest did he finally come to a stop.

As his feet touched the earth, Liu Jinbiao’s face turned deathly pale. He could no longer contain his trembling, his eyes filled with terror and lingering dread.

“That was close! Damn it, my lifetime of glory almost came crashing down in this blasted Great Sacred Continent!” After a long, shuddering breath, Liu Jinbiao took a deep breath. At the memory of his performance, his heart ached from the pain of keeping up the front.
“A pox upon it all! Such a waste of potent elixirs…” Liu Jinbiao lamented, his voice laced with despair. “My deception was too complete! Even I believed my own lies, scorned the very concoctions I sought to acquire. Now, look at the destruction! So many precious pills… ruined!” A sharp pang of regret pierced his heart, especially as he recalled the flamboyant gesture with which he had dismissed them.

“I should have offered fewer… blast it all! These past years are forfeit!” He sighed heavily, a bitter acceptance settling upon him. “Well, no matter. I, Liu Jinbiao, am blessed with an uncommon talent. Lost fortunes can be regained!” Drawing a deep breath, he prepared to meditate, to calm the turmoil within his soul.

But then, a voice, smooth and unsettlingly calm, echoed from behind him.

“The second step of the Deceiver’s Path… you have mastered it fully.”

The unexpectedness of the utterance sent a jolt through Liu Jinbiao, but he swiftly regained his composure, his face hardening into a mask of indifference. Turning, he beheld a figure cloaked in white, his hair the color of winter frost, eyes as bright as starlight piercing the shadows.

“So, the Cloud Sect has grown tired of life, has it?” Liu Jinbiao spoke slowly, deliberately, but within his heart, an unfamiliar unease stirred. Despite his carefully constructed illusion, a sliver of fear lingered, whispering that this encounter was different.

“I am not of the Cloud Sect,” the white-haired youth replied, a faint smile gracing his lips. He settled into a cross-legged posture, producing a skin of wine from thin air, and taking a long draught.

“Regardless of your allegiances, if you dare harm me, my master will descend upon you without delay, obliterating you from existence!” Liu Jinbiao’s voice was a low hiss, and he instinctively retreated, a tremor running through his frame. To his horror, he felt the meticulously crafted facade of the second step of the Deceiver’s Path begin to crumble. He could not deceive this man.

This feeling was alien to him, something he had never experienced, not even within the Cloud Sect. This terror, this absolute inability to sway or mislead. He leaned heavily against a gnarled tree, his eyes locked on the enigmatic figure.

“My master is Guya, a Celestial Venerable beneath the Great Twin Celestials! I walk the Deceiver’s Path with his blessing! I… I possess his token!” Trembling, Liu Jinbiao drew forth a dark, wooden plaque, intending to brandish it as proof, but the white-haired youth merely raised a hand. The plaque flew from Liu Jinbiao’s grasp, landing gently in the other’s palm.

“A convincing imitation. The script… undoubtedly etched with unwavering conviction as you deluded yourself, repeatedly proclaiming yourself the servant of Guya,” the youth remarked, his eyes narrowed in appraisal.

“As for the aura emanating from this token… ah, yes. The heavy stench of death. I surmise you found a long-deceased corpse, a powerful being in its time, and left this token near its remains for many years. Thus, it absorbed this lingering, morbid energy.” The youth smiled, his gaze piercing.

With each word, Liu Jinbiao’s face grew paler, his carefully constructed defenses weakening. When the white-haired youth finished speaking, and turned his smile fully upon him, Liu Jinbiao’s mind shattered. The self-deception he had cultivated for so long collapsed, leaving him slumped and defeated.

This was beyond anything he could have imagined. In all his years of deceit, he had never encountered someone who could see through him with such ease. More importantly, this stranger understood the Deceiver’s Path!

He knew of the second step, the art of deceiving oneself!

And as he gazed into the stranger’s knowing smile, a primal fear seized him, a sensation that echoed from the depths of his soul, a long-dormant memory of terror.

He looked at the youth, a chilling familiarity tugging at his senses. Where had he seen him before?

“Who… who are you?!” he stammered, his voice shaking, his eyes wide with unadulterated fear.

“The seals are showing signs of breaking…” the youth muttered, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. He clearly observed the subtle loosening of the bonds that imprisoned Liu Jinbiao’s memories of a previous life.

“The sealing of his past self… it seems that a powerful stimulus can break them without my intervention,” the youth pondered, his eyes gleaming with speculation.