Chapter 26: The Unpredictability of Fate

After a hard swallow, Liu Xu actually forced herself to swallow the “Demon’s Fang” down into her body. It melted instantly upon entering her mouth, releasing a thick, metallic taste that made her clutch her throat and retch. The next moment, she suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream, collapsing to the ground, clutching her head and rolling about in agony. Her cries were so harrowing, it was as if she were enduring unimaginable torment. When Jiang An turned to look, he saw that the once-beautiful heiress now had strange, blood-red patterns crawling across every bit of exposed skin—her hands, neck, and face. The marks writhed upon her flesh like countless leeches, wriggling inexorably toward her head before finally vanishing into her eyes.

Soon, all signs of abnormality faded. Liu Xu’s screams ceased, replaced by a preternatural calm, and she slowly picked herself up from the ground.

“So this is what soul-rending pain feels like,” Liu Xu said coolly, her eyes still tightly shut. Her tone, even her very presence, had changed utterly, as if she had been possessed. Yet, there remained a lingering sense of her original self, making the transformation all the more uncanny. “Now, Jiang An, kneel and swear yourself to me as a slave!”

Then, she opened her eyes.

What stared back was not the gaze of any normal human. Her entire eyeball had become a blood-red crystal, gleaming like a flawless gemstone but radiating an endless malice and chill. It was as if some demon from the abyss was staring coldly into your soul; the faint-hearted would have their hair stand on end, perhaps even lose control of their bowels in terror.

The surface of that glassy eye, so smooth, reflected Jiang An’s image clearly. In that instant, Jiang An’s brow furrowed slightly, for in the depths of his mind, a dark, sinister consciousness had suddenly appeared. It took the form of a hideous black-and-red demon’s face, with eyes glowing green like lanterns, brimming with greed and venom. With a chilling cackle, it opened its gaping maw and swooped into the very depths of Jiang An’s spiritual sea—the sacred domain of a person’s spirit and consciousness.

The “spiritual sea” is the ocean of mental power; for the strong-willed, it is vast, and at its highest level, mental power can even take on human form, known as the Primordial Spirit.

The moment the demon’s face plunged into the sea, it sought to pollute and seize Jiang An’s spirit. Yet, to its shock, it found that all the water in this spiritual sea had vanished, leaving only a boundless seabed, dry and barren. Clearly, this person had withdrawn all mental power to his spiritual platform. Emboldened, the demon face surged forward, flying toward the deepest recesses of the spiritual sea in search of this platform.

How vast was this man’s spiritual sea, that it seemed to go on forever?

The demon face flew at breakneck speed, but even so, it found no end after what felt like an endless flight.

At the very edge of this spiritual sea stood a colossal, nine-colored gate that connected heaven and earth, dividing the space into two realms: outside, the parched seabed; inside, a vast, pale green altar. Seated cross-legged atop the altar was a human figure—none other than Jiang An’s Primordial Spirit.

“A visitor, is it? Let’s send him on his way.”

The Primordial Spirit of Jiang An slowly opened his eyes, gaze profound and fathomless, containing within them the secrets of fate and the laws of the universe. Space and time seemed as nothing before him, and his gaze fell instantly upon the intruding demon face.

A will as vast as heaven and earth descended, leaving the demon face no time even to think. Like a drop of water beneath the blazing sun, it was instantly annihilated, leaving behind only the faintest wisp of black soul-energy. Jiang An had left it intentionally, intending to use his great power to trace it back to its origin and eradicate the source. But at that moment, the nine-colored gate suddenly erupted in radiant light, flooding the space and purifying all.

“Ah, let it be then,” sighed Jiang An’s Primordial Spirit, closing his eyes once more as the spiritual sea returned to tranquility.

All that had transpired in the spiritual sea took but an instant in the real world.

Jiang An, who had been assaulted by the demon face in his spiritual sea, regained his clarity after barely a breath. At the same moment that the demon face was destroyed, the blood-red crystal in Liu Xu’s eye shattered, flaking away and dissolving into shimmering light that vanished into nothingness. She herself lost consciousness and collapsed.

“Miss!”

This scene was witnessed by the Liu family bodyguards nearby. They rushed over in a panic, scooping Liu Xu up and fleeing without daring to spare Jiang An even a single glance.

“A fusion of soul magic and curses, is it? Reminiscent of the Underworld Banyan Clan, but far inferior. I wonder which hellhole Liu Xu found this broken trinket in. Well, she brought it on herself—sacrificing half her soul as an offering. She’ll be a vegetable for the rest of her life…” Jiang An muttered to himself as he slowly walked away.

Elsewhere on Earth.

In a dark, damp cavern, the faint sound of dripping water echoed. Suddenly, like two small green bulbs lighting up in the gloom, an eerie green glow revealed a limestone cave. In the center, a pool bubbled with some foul, black, stinking liquid. Floating above the pool was a disheveled, indistinct human head—the green lights were its eyes.

“Hm? One of my pawns has been destroyed. Who was it? Was it those old ghosts of Huaxia? No matter, if that contingency is gone, so be it. With the day of Ruinsfall approaching, best to keep a low profile and preserve my usefulness for the great endeavor of my clan…”

The green glow faded, and darkness returned.

The Liu family had fallen. One of the Seven Great Clans of Lincheng, the Liu family, was finished.

In just a few short days, this once-mighty behemoth collapsed overnight, torn apart by the surrounding wolves. The Liu family patriarch, upon his release from detention, vomited blood on the spot when he heard the news. Decades of hard work and ambition were gone in an instant. And to everyone’s astonishment, it was the Li family—long considered their closest ally—who dealt the most ruthless blow.

Word had it that Li Donglai, during a bath one day, was suddenly seized by madness, leaping about stark naked before falling into a coma. Upon waking, he immediately cursed his wife, Liu Xu, as a demon and a wretched woman. Without hesitation, he led the experts of the Li family in a surprise attack against the Lius. Caught off guard, the Liu family’s defenders suffered terrible losses, and Liu Maocai was cut down by his own son-in-law.

Yet, Li Donglai never found the one he most wished to kill—Liu Xu. She had vanished, along with her brother Liu Chengfeng, both of them disappearing without a trace as if swallowed by the earth.

People are quick to forget. No one cared any longer for the fate of the Liu family. What mattered now was currying favor with the powerful—especially the immensely popular Divine Blade Sect!

But the master of the Divine Blade Sect, Jiang An, showed no inclination to stir up further trouble. Instead, he quietly returned to teaching at the university.

This week’s classes were in the morning, so Jiang An arrived on campus early, strolling unhurriedly along the path toward his classroom.

“Good, I can finish class and then check out the antique street by the Cultural Palace…” Jiang An mused as he walked. Just then, several boys hurried past him, one of them exclaiming excitedly, “Hurry up! See those girls ahead? The Fourfold Beauty, Tong Yi, is right there!”

“Which one, which one?”

“The tallest one, dressed the warmest!”

“Oh, by the way, why is she called the Fourfold Beauty?”

“Well, when Tong Yi first enrolled, her beauty was dazzling—she shot to the top of the university’s beauty rankings with countless admirers. One particularly self-important guy wrote a cheesy poem on the school forum to confess to her. He failed, of course, but the four lines praising her spread far and wide. Let me recite them for you: ‘Bright as spring sunshine, vibrant as summer days, serene as autumn leaves, pure as winter snow.’ Corny, but it fits, so now all the guys call her the Fourfold Beauty.”

“So that’s what it means! I’ve seen her photos—she really is stunning.”

“In person, she’s a hundred times more beautiful!”

“Hey, look, another guy is confessing to Tong Yi right now!”

“Damn, confessing with a Bentley—he just has to show off how rich his family is!”

Fourfold Beauty? Tong Yi? It must be Tong Yi!

Only now did Jiang An realize how famous Tong Yi was at Eastern University. But then, people are drawn to beauty, and she was certainly a rare gem—no wonder she had so many admirers.

More and more people hurried ahead, forming a crowd. In the center, a Bentley luxury car was parked by the roadside. A well-dressed, tall, and handsome young man knelt on one knee, presenting a large bouquet of fiery red roses, gazing at Tong Yi with deep emotion. “Tong Yi, this is only our second meeting, but since that first encounter, your image has been seared into my heart. I can’t stop thinking about you, longing for you. I know this is sudden, but I don’t regret my impulse. Please, give me a chance—let’s try dating, get to know each other slowly…”

All around, youthful men and women, their hormones surging, watched this scene straight out of a romantic drama. Many girls swooned, imagining themselves in her place, while all the guys inwardly cursed, praying she wouldn’t accept this jerk.

“All right, all right,” Tong Yi smiled, radiant as a field of blossoms. “Now that you’ve said your piece, you’d better get up— the ground is cold, and I have to get to class.”

The young man’s face paled. “You really feel nothing for me at all? Tell me what’s wrong with me—I can change!”

Tong Yi, long accustomed to such situations, blinked her lively eyes and gave the boy a quick once-over. “Wait, let me think of a reason. Ah, I don’t like guys who wear red socks!”

The young man was instantly petrified. What kind of excuse was that?

The crowd couldn’t help but laugh—her response was a true knockout.

“If you don’t say yes today, I’ll stay here on my knees and not get up!” the young man threatened angrily, humiliated and furious.

Tong Yi rolled her eyes. There was nothing more annoying than a boy who resorted to threats after a failed confession. She was about to retort when she caught sight of a familiar figure striding past, not pausing for the spectacle. Her eyes lit up, and she called out, “Professor Jiang! Wait for me!”

She squeezed through the crowd and ran after him. Her friends exchanged knowing glances and, shaking their heads at her impulsiveness, followed. The crowd, seeing that the show was over, began to disperse.

The cold wind stung the face of the rejected young man, but his heart felt even colder, especially as other boys around him made snide remarks, adding insult to injury. He stood up and looked ahead, only to see Tong Yi walking briskly alongside a young man, chatting animatedly and smiling sweetly. In that instant, jealousy blazed up, consuming all reason.

Rage overtook him. Face grim, he climbed into the Bentley, started the engine, slammed it into gear, and, without a second thought, stepped on the accelerator, aiming the car straight at the pair ahead!

(The Liu siblings still have a role to play, so they won’t be meeting their maker just yet.)