403: Chapter 403 The Plan Begins

[The fifty-sixth year,]

[After arranging everything, you return to Tianshu City and spend your days at the Jiang Clan Merchant House, checking ledgers and managing business, acting like a dutiful shopkeeper.]

[However, that Dao Companion pair from Zhiyun Pavilion still hasn't given up.]

[They sent people in shifts, using secret techniques to conceal their presence, lurking in the teahouse across from the merchant house, on street corners, and under eaves, taking turns to monitor your every move.]

[Although they killed you once, you now have absolutely no interest in bullying the weak.]

[Perhaps after reaching Soul Transformation, your level of existence has changed, and your understanding of the Laws of Heaven and Earth has increased, naturally leading to a different state of mind.]

[But since they still dare to provoke you, they are naturally seeking their own deaths.]

[You pretend to know nothing, not even bothering to lift an eyelid.]

[You have been waiting.]

[After waiting for a long time, finally—]

[The transmission Jade Slip at your waist vibrates gently.]

[You take it out and probe it with spiritual power. Ru Yan's cold and brief voice echoes in your Sea of Consciousness:]

["Clan Chief Liu Qingtian, Grand Elder Liu Xuanyin, and Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land Protector Guardian have set out for the Holy Land, accompanied by myself, Liu Yunge, Liu Chenfeng, and a hundred elite Disciples."]

[In truth, Ru Yan knows nothing of what you are doing; you only asked her to send you a message when they departed for the Holy Land.]

[You stare at the Jade Slip, and bit by bit, a smile slowly spreads across your face.]

[It is a long-awaited smile, one that has been suppressed for too long and can finally be released.]

[You set down the Jade Slip, slowly close your eyes, and sink your mind into your Qi Sea.]

[The long-dormant chaos demon seed is suspended there quietly, its dark light swirling as if waiting for something.]

["Demon seed, go."]

[With a mere thought, you do not speak, but simply pass that intention along gently.]

[The demon seed trembles slightly.]

[Then, it moves.]

[The demon seed that you couldn't budge an inch even with all your might now seems to come alive, slowly elongating and deforming in your Qi Sea, transforming into a completely dark tadpole with a distinct head and tail.]

[It swims along your Meridians silently and finally slips out from the Yongquan point on the sole of your foot.]

[There is no broken skin, no bleeding.]

[It simply melts into the blue bricks beneath your feet with ease, then sinks into the deeper layers of the earth, heading all the way down.]

[It pierces through the packed soil, through the hard rock layers, and through the main trunk of the earth vein buried deep underground.]

[The moment the demon seed enters the earth vein, that warm and peaceful river of Spiritual Qi pauses slightly.]

[Then, the dark tadpole follows the pathways of the Spiritual Vein, rapidly sinking and swimming silently toward the deepest, most central location.]

[Finally, it stops.]

[This is the end of the earth vein, deep within the Void Realm, where a sphere of light ten thousand zhang in diameter hangs, radiating a vastness like a sea of stars.]

[This is the core of the Liu Clan Territory.]

[It is not only a hundred times larger than the core of the Shattered Star Continent, but the energy it radiates is almost capable of swallowing everything nearby.]

[Strangely, this all-consuming core makes the demon seed very excited, its little tail wagging incessantly.]

[The tadpole transformed from the demon seed lingers outside the sphere of light for a moment, as if confirming something, or perhaps... smiling.]

[Then, with a gentle flick of its tail—it drills inside.]

[Dong—!]

[The core, which had been peaceful for countless millennia, shakes violently the moment it is invaded by the demon seed!]

[You feel it too—the earth trembles for a brief instant.]

[This instant vanishes so quickly it makes one think it was an illusion.]

[Across the entire continent of the Liu Clan Territory, countless high-level Cultivators daze for a moment because of this.]

[They only feel that something heart-palpitating happened inexplicably just now.]

[You delay no further and move your body.]

[The next second,]

[Zhiyun Pavilion, ninth floor.]

[Two people are sitting side by side, drinking tea and chatting while overlooking the city's night view.]

[Vast Emptiness Master holds his teacup; whatever he said makes Fairy Zhiyun cover her mouth and chuckle softly.]

[Then—]

[The air ripples slightly, like the surface of water.]

[Without anyone noticing when, you are already standing there.]

[Bang!]

[The teacup hits the ground and shatters into powder.]

[The smile on Vast Emptiness Master's face freezes completely before he even has time to withdraw it.]

[His mouth hangs open, and his finger rises tremblingly to point at you, as a series of incoherent sounds emerge from his throat:]

["You... you... you..."]

[Fairy Zhiyun's body shakes violently, and all color instantly drains from her face.]

[She stares at you fixedly, her pupils contracting sharply; that usually gentle and composed face of hers completely shatters at this moment.]

[No matter how stupid they are, they should understand by now.]

[Teleportation.]

[You are a Soul Transformation expert.]

[In the next moment, the terror on Vast Emptiness Master's face twists into a nearly hysterical, hideous expression.]

[He stands up abruptly, pointing at you, his voice so high-pitched it changes tone:]

["Hahaha!"]

["You... you really were hiding your cultivation!"]

["Good!"]

["Very good!"]

[He laughs until his whole body shakes, his eyes filled with a desperate ruthlessness:]

["We don't know how you fooled Lord Liu!"]

["But your appearance here today is ironclad proof!"]

["Once I report this to..."]

["Vast Emptiness Master!"]

[A sharp shout interrupts him.]

[Fairy Zhiyun grabs his sleeve tightly, her body shaking uncontrollably.]

[She clutches her Dao Companion so hard her nails dig into his flesh, yet she remains oblivious.]

[She takes a deep breath, suppressing the tremors threatening to overflow from her throat, and slowly bows to you.]

["Se... Senior."]

[Her voice is very soft and steady, yet every word is trembling:]

["Regarding the last incident, this Junior... was also momentarily possessed and forced by circumstances."]

[She doesn't dare look up, staring only at the pile of shattered teacup fragments by your feet:]

["This Junior is willing to make a Heart Demon Oath to never speak a single word of what I saw today. If I break this oath..."]

[She pauses and closes her eyes:]

["May my path be destroyed and my Divine Soul be extinguished."]

[Vast Emptiness Master is stunned, as if awakened by a bucket of cold water.]

[He opens his mouth, finally realizing what foolish words he had just spoken.]

[Proof?]

[If a Soul Transformation Cultivator wants to kill you, would you even have the chance to run to the Liu Clan to complain?]

[Even if the Liu Clan investigated afterward and avenged you—by then, you would have long since turned to ash.]

[He shrinks his neck, his lips pressed tightly together like a quail being strangled by the throat, not daring to utter another word.]

[The balcony is very quiet; only the cold wind brushing past the wind chimes on the eaves makes a faint, tinkling sound.]

[Expressionless, you look at the bowing woman and the man who finally knows fear.]

["You certainly know how to adapt."]

[You speak, your voice very flat.]

[Fairy Zhiyun's body relaxes slightly, thinking she has found a glimmer of hope.]

[However, you pause.]

["But..."]

["If I don't kill you both,"]

["My thoughts will not be clear."]

[Your voice seems to make even the wind stop.]

[Fairy Zhiyun's body goes completely limp, like a pile of mud that cannot be propped up.]

[Vast Emptiness Master's face is ashen, his mouth open, gurgling sounds coming from his throat, yet unable to squeeze out a single word.]

[Immediately following, the two of them only feel a chill at their necks.]

[Heads roll down with a thud.]

[In the eyes of their severed heads, before the terror can even dissipate, they 'see' their own headless bodies and the pillars of blood spraying from their necks—]

[And then, with a casual wave of your hand, they are entered, dismantled, and broken down by the invisible Law Power, silently turning into nothingness.]

[Not even a drop of blood is left behind.]