The Ashen Flow lay behind them. The central provinces opened ahead like a vast, indifferent chessboard—fertile plains, prosperous cities, and the faint silhouettes of towering sect mountains on the horizon. Lin Xuan walked at the front, gray robes damp from the river crossing, expression as blank as polished stone.
Inside his aperture, the preserved rank-five time-path aperture fragment and the Void Cicada Essence were slowly being devoured by the Fate Cicada Fragment. Golden threads wrapped around them greedily, extracting every trace of essence. Each pulse sent waves of power through his meridians, pushing him closer to rank three peak.
Hong Lian walked a step behind, her remaining guard even further back. She had been silent since the river, but Lin Xuan could feel her gaze boring into him.
Finally, she spoke.
"You tested me back there. You were willing to throw away a loyal man of nine years just to see how I would react."
Lin Xuan did not slow down.
"Correct."
Hong Lian's voice grew colder.
"And if I had let you kill him?"
"I would have used his death and continued walking. His loyalty was useful, but your reaction was more useful. One man's life is a small price for understanding a potential long-term partner."
Hong Lian laughed once — sharp, bitter.
"You truly are a monster."
Lin Xuan finally glanced at her.
"Monsters hesitate. I do not."
He looked forward again, voice flat and matter-of-fact.
"I have died three times already. Each death taught me the same lesson: hesitation is death. Attachment is death. Mercy is the slowest form of suicide."
Hong Lian's steps slowed slightly.
"Tell me."
Lin Xuan's tone remained completely emotionless, as if recounting someone else's failures.
"First death: I was one step from rank eight. A woman I had raised from a slave, trained personally, and granted rare gu — she sold my location to the righteous alliance for a single rank-seven gu and the title of 'heroine.' They ambushed me during tribulation. I killed her last, slowly, but I still died."
He continued without pause.
"Second death: I trusted a sworn brother. We had fought side by side for two hundred years. When a heavenly tribulation descended, he used a forbidden gu to shift the heavenly might onto me so he could escape. I refined his soul into a gu afterward. Too late."
A short silence.
"Third death: The righteous path, the demonic path, even neutral venerables formed a temporary alliance. They used my own schemes against me — turned my pawns, leaked false information, trapped me in a formation that devoured my lifespan. I activated the Spring Autumn Cicada at the final moment. That was the last time I allowed myself to be surrounded."
He stopped walking and turned to face Hong Lian fully.
His black eyes were abyss-deep, utterly cold.
"Three lifetimes. Three betrayals. Three proofs that the only person I can truly rely on is myself. Everyone else is either a tool to be used or an obstacle to be removed. Including you."
Hong Lian met his gaze without flinching.
"So why keep me around?"
"Because right now, you are useful. Your rank six cultivation, your connections in the underworld, your hatred for the righteous path — all of these have value. When that value ends…"
He let the sentence hang, then finished it without mercy.
"I will discard you without hesitation. Just like the woman who betrayed me. Just like the brother who tried to sacrifice me. Just like the guard you saved at the river."
Hong Lian stared at him for a long moment.
Then she smiled — slow, dangerous, and strangely satisfied.
"You really don't hide anything, do you?"
"I hide nothing because there is nothing to hide. I want eternal life. Everything and everyone is judged by whether they help me achieve it."
He turned and resumed walking.
"Continue proving your worth, Hong Lian. The moment you stop, our partnership ends. Permanently."
Hong Lian watched his back for several seconds.
Then she followed.
Her voice carried forward, soft but clear.
"You know what's terrifying about you, Gray?"
She didn't wait for an answer.
"You don't even enjoy being ruthless. You simply are. Like breathing."
Lin Xuan offered no reply.
Inside his aperture, the Fate Cicada Fragment pulsed stronger than ever — fed by the fresh essence and the cold clarity of his own words.
Three deaths.
Three lessons carved into his soul.
He would not need a fourth.
Ahead lay the central provinces — vast, rich, and full of new pawns, new resources, and new enemies to be turned into stepping stones.
Lin Xuan walked forward without looking back.
To be continued...