Wang Lin sheathed the Star Compass, his gaze hardening as he strode into the heart of Ran Yun, piercing its tempestuous winds.

Even from afar, he had sensed it: the desolation etched upon the land, the lingering echoes of potent celestial energies. A battle had clearly raged here recently.

He inhaled deeply, his divine sense reaching south, locating the figure of Liu Mei.

She was changed, transformed, even more breathtakingly beautiful than he remembered.

With a subtle furrowing of his brow, Wang Lin stepped forward, vanishing in a blink and reappearing in the far south, a mere hundred paces from Liu Mei.

Her eyes, fixed upon him, shone with an uncanny light. She had felt his approach even as he neared Ran Yun, a faint familiarity emanating from him, yet his face was utterly unknown.

She remained silent, simply studying him.

Wang Lin returned her gaze, his voice even, “You have taken your vengeance. Be gone.”

His arrival had been prompted by a flicker of confusion at her presence here. A swift sweep of his senses had revealed the hidden avatar of Sun Xi within the city below, and the truth of events quickly dawned upon him.

Since these three had acted thus, he saw no need to interfere further. A token gesture was sufficient.

Yet a deeper unease settled within Wang Lin, for Liu Mei’s cultivation had reached the pinnacle of the Asking stage. This revelation caused his pupils to contract almost imperceptibly.

*How could Liu Mei’s power have reached such heights?* he wondered. *Could it be tied to that old phantom of the Huan family…? Yes, that must be it!* His eyes flicked over her, a flicker of understanding igniting within them.

*She is still wreathed in residual celestial energies, likely bolstered by force. But such forcibly enhanced power is merely a surge of energy; her comprehension of its true essence cannot possibly match it.*

“Have we met before?” Liu Mei asked softly, her gaze unwavering.

“No,” Wang Lin replied, his voice flat.

She studied him in silence for a long moment, then a smile bloomed upon her lips, as refreshing as the spring wind. But Wang Lin’s eyes remained as still and deep as a frozen lake.

“Enough,” he said, his voice growing sharper. “Leave now, before I change my mind.” He found her smile grating, reminiscent of their encounters on Vermillion Bird.

A flicker of something complex crossed her face. “I did not expect you to have reached such a level,” she murmured. “Indeed, I cannot see through you…”

Wang Lin’s brow furrowed. He shot her a cold look, turning to depart. If the three of Ran Yun concealed themselves within avatars, there was no reason for him to linger.

“Wang Lin,” Liu Mei’s voice echoed, suddenly laced with chilling intensity. “Do you truly believe I would not recognize you?”

Wang Lin froze, turning back, his eyes radiating cold. “Cease your tests. I am Wang Lin. If you persist in the torment you inflicted on Vermillion Bird, you will find me a murderer!”

Behind her serene facade, Liu Mei’s heart was in turmoil. She could scarcely believe she had encountered Wang Lin in this very Roaming Heaven Star Field. And that his power had grown to such an extent that she could not even fathom it!

Memories flooded her mind in a torrent. She stared at him, her expression a shifting tapestry of conflicting emotions. “None but you could possess such a frigid gaze. You have changed your appearance, altered everything, yet that gaze remains. Surely the reason for these changes is to prevent me from recognizing you.”

Wang Lin’s frown deepened. He regarded her with a chilling indifference. “I will say it one last time: Begone!”

Liu Mei smiled again, her complex emotions banished, replaced with a frigid indifference. “Your cultivation cannot possibly surpass mine; you must simply possess some treasure or technique to conceal it. Today, you shall not escape.”

Wang Lin’s eyes flashed with fury. He raised his right hand, unleashing a Destructive Finger gust that howled through the air, hurtling towards Liu Mei in a streak of black light. A series of concentric ripples formed in its wake, accompanied by the thunderous rumble of nascent lightning.

As the Destructive Finger approached, Liu Mei remained impassive. Her slender jade hands formed a seal, conjuring a barrier of light before her. The Destructive Finger slammed into it with a deafening roar, sending tendrils of electricity snaking across its surface. Countless cracks appeared, spider-webbing across the barrier.

Liu Mei shook her head. “As I suspected, your cultivation is merely at the early stages of Asking.”

“Forcibly enhanced cultivation carries too many flaws. Your master’s actions in this manner suggest a hidden purpose,” Wang Lin said coldly.

Liu Mei giggled. “What does it matter? Today, you will not escape. Now that you have reached the Asking stage, let us settle the debt we owe from Vermillion Bird. Allow me to send you to reunite with Li Muwan…”

“You seek death!” Wang Lin slapped his storage bag, releasing the Seven-Star Sword Formation. Seven streaks of rainbow light lunged towards Liu Mei.

Her expression unwavering, Liu Mei touched her brow with a jade finger. A crimson light burst forth from her brow, enveloping her in a blinding aura. The red light solidified, taking the form of a woman – proud, sharp-eyed, and breathtakingly beautiful. A predatory glint shone in her phoenix eyes as she glared at Wang Lin.

“Red Butterfly!” Wang Lin’s eyes flared.

It was indeed Red Butterfly! Her voice was cold as she regarded Wang Lin, saying evenly, “The debt between us must also be settled!” She clapped her storage bag, producing a red rose. With a flourish, its petals scattered, each carrying a strange power as they flew towards Wang Lin.

“What sorcery is this!” Wang Lin’s pupils contracted. In a blink, Liu Mei had transformed into Red Butterfly. Even with his advanced cultivation, Wang Lin’s divine sense could detect no trace of Liu Mei, only the undeniable presence of Red Butterfly herself.
Before the onslaught of swirling petals, Wang Lin wove a swift incantation with his right hand. At his mental command, the Seven Star Sword Array materialized. The seven blades, a circle of shimmering steel, spun with blinding speed, conjuring a tempestuous whirlwind that howled forth, rending the floral assault to nothingness.

A chilling pride deepened in Red Butterfly’s eyes. With a flick of her wrist, crimson stamens shot forth. Her left hand danced with arcane gestures, and the stamens coalesced, weaving themselves into a glyph of potent magic. With a downward thrust, the rune surged forward, swelling in size as it flew. It became a colossal sigil, hundreds of feet across, a crushing weight bearing down upon Wang Lin like a descending mountain.

A glacial glint flashed in Wang Lin’s eyes. He raised a hand, pointing a defiant finger at the heavens. The sky cracked with a thunderous roar as a yawning chasm of the Yellow Springs tore open, a river of the dead spilling forth. He shattered the descending rune, its essence consumed by the corrupted waters. Filled with the stench of decay and the echoes of lost souls, at Wang Lin’s urging, the river coiled like a monstrous, spectral serpent. It lunged, engulfing Red Butterfly within its chilling embrace, threatening to drag her soul into its abyssal depths.

“The Way!” Red Butterfly exclaimed, a flicker of genuine surprise in her gaze. “You possess the nascent power of the Way itself!”

Wang Lin responded with a cold snarl. The manifested Yellow Springs surged with renewed ferocity, the sky above darkening ominously. Lightning crackled within the spectral river, adding to its already terrible power.

Facing imminent doom, Red Butterfly pressed her right hand to her brow once more. This time, golden light erupted, cocooning her entirely. Then, as swiftly as it appeared, the radiance vanished, revealing within its protective shell a frail, diminutive figure.

“Uncle…”

The single word resonated with an unnatural power, causing Wang Lin’s manifestation of the Yellow Springs to falter, to momentarily stall its deadly assault.

“Zhou Ru…”

The slight form was indeed Zhou Ru, gazing up at Wang Lin with wide, innocent eyes, a tremor of fear quivering in her lips.

“Uncle, I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Please, don’t abandon me again…”

A spasm of anguish crossed Wang Lin’s face. He roared, “Enough, Liu Mei!”

The spectral Yellow Springs lashed out, drawing Zhou Ru into its swirling currents. Her eyes widened in stark terror and incomprehension as tears streamed down her face. In a small, trembling voice, she whispered, “Uncle, do you seek to destroy Ru’er?”

“This is a fabrication….” Wang Lin hissed, steeling his resolve. The Yellow Springs tightened its grip, forming a vortex of spectral energy that threatened to consume Zhou Ru utterly, ripping her essence apart.

But in that single, agonizing moment, a voice, soft as a caress yet resonating with the force of a titan, echoed within the depths.

“Tie Niu…”

The sound, like the tolling of a cathedral bell, reverberated through Wang Lin’s very being. Within the swirling mists of the Yellow Springs, a figure materialized – his mother, lost to him for eight hundred long years. Her eyes, filled with infinite tenderness, were fixed upon him.

Wang Lin’s heart lurched.

His hand trembled. The manifestation of the Yellow Springs fractured and crumbled, dissolving into ethereal nothingness.

“This, too, is a lie.” Red light flickered in Wang Lin’s eyes.

“A lie, is it? Perhaps…. But under the myriad illusions of the Demonic Way of a Thousand Illusions, Wang Lin, truth and falsehood are intertwined!” Liu Mei’s voice, ethereal and mocking, echoed from every direction, impossible to pinpoint.

Zhou Ru and Red Butterfly re-emerged from the void, their forms shimmering and unstable. And then, another figure materialized – Wang Lin’s father, gazing upon him with a gentle, approving gaze.

“Wang Lin, do you remember me…?” Wang Zhuo stepped forth from the ether, no longer the weary old man, but restored to his youthful vigor, radiating an aura of boundless confidence.

“Disciple, you must remember to preserve the legacy of the Soul Refining Sect…” The aged voice of Tun Tian resonated as his ghostly form coalesced from the void.

Then, one by one, familiar faces – loved ones, friends, mentors, figures from Wang Lin’s past – manifested. Each gazed upon him with a unique expression: longing, regret, joy, sorrow. In the air, azure light flickered, solidifying into the form of a woman – Li Muwan. She looked at Wang Lin with tenderness in her eyes and spoke softly, “Wang Lin… am I, too, a lie…?”

She stood beside his mother, appearing like a daughter, both gazing at Wang Lin with quiet understanding.

“The Demonic Way of a Thousand Illusions…” Wang Lin whispered, his eyes filled with anguish as he surveyed the familiar figures before him. He closed his eyes, and murmured, “The Demonic Way of a Thousand Illusions… it acts as a vessel for demonic possession, igniting the fires of the nascent soul and consuming body and mind… Liu Mei, what ancient grudge do you hold that compels you to scour my past with such relentless zeal?”

In that instant, all the figures – his loved ones, his friends – transformed into wisps of ethereal smoke, shimmering and intangible. They swirled towards Wang Lin in unison, merging into his form.