What is fate?
According to Chen Huaian’s own interpretation—fate is cause and effect.
Whether good or bad, it is either the seed or the fruit.
[Upgrade the proficiency of Meridian-Opening Needle from Great Success to Great Perfection – 30,000¥ required.]
Chen Huaian stared at the prompt box on the screen.
He knew then and there—
His fate with Lingxi Valley had arrived.
“I’m not a violent person…” he sighed, eyes full of reluctant righteousness, “but this recharge deal is simply too tempting. I have no choice but to choose… option three.”
His finger tapped <3>.
He had imagined that some powerful NPC character would descend from the sky and obliterate Lingxi Valley in a dramatic cutscene.
But no.
The developers knew exactly how to hook players, how to get them to willingly spend more.
A new prompt appeared:
[Please wear the game helmet.]
Meanwhile, in Lingxi Valley…
Yun Suxin sat calmly in the pavilion, observing the illusion array’s internal fluctuations.
Suddenly, her expression changed.
“What? Those two Sword Pavilion brats actually broke through their inner demons?!”
As one of the few people with second-level access to Lingxi Valley’s grand sect illusion, she could monitor the spiritual flow and mental fluctuations inside.
Just now—
The illusion demons afflicting Li Qingran and Yue Qianchi had been wiped out in succession.
She didn’t know what those illusions had been, but their collapse meant one thing:
The inner heart barrier had been breached.
“No way… they actually escaped?”
She considered reinforcing the array or triggering the third layer’s killing mechanism.
But she waved that thought away.
“…Forget it. Let’s see how far they can make it.”
She prided herself on keeping her word. They had been given a test. If they passed, so be it.
Little did she know—that brief moment of restraint would end up saving her, her entire sect, and even her mother’s life.
Inside his apartment, Chen Huaian picked up the game helmet.
He wore it with a solemn expression.
Inside the illusion, in front of Li Qingran—
A white-robed figure materialized out of thin air, standing quietly in the mist.
This time, his appearance came with no flashy entrance, no dragons, no thunder.
He simply stood there—and that was enough.
The air around him was suffused with a calm and overwhelming pressure.
He looked like he belonged to the heavens.
“Master!”
Li Qingran’s voice rang out from behind him, filled with relief and awe.
Chen Huaian turned slightly, just enough to glimpse her wide, glistening eyes—still clutching a small wet whip in her hand.
She was beaming.
Her joy was like spring snow melting—gentle, beautiful, yet enough to drown the heart.
Chen Huaian’s heart skipped a beat.
This girl is seriously too good-looking.
Even though he saw her nearly every day, that soft, radiant gaze still hit him like a sword to the chest.
Especially now—with that misty tenderness in her eyes, like a flower about to bloom, just waiting for him to reach out.
He quickly looked away before his face could heat up.
He straightened his back, activated “NPC Boss Mode,” coughed lightly, and spoke in a deep voice:
“The fact that you were trapped in an illusion means your heart still wavers. Before training the sword, you must train your will. What does Master always tell you?”
Li Qingran lowered her head shyly, her fingers nervously twisting behind her back.
“Qingran knows her mistake…”
She didn’t even hesitate.
Even if Master never said such things before, she would still accept it as gospel truth.
Because Master cared.
He corrected her because he loved her.
If he didn’t care, why didn’t he criticize Senior Sister Yue?
“Very well. To know your mistake and correct it is the thunderous path forward.”
Chen Huaian said something vaguely profound, even if it sounded like a misquoted proverb. Didn’t matter—it worked.
He raised his gaze toward the sky above the illusion.
Li Qingran and Yue Qianchi couldn’t see it, but Chen Huaian could clearly spot the array eye of the illusion formation.
It was like a circuit blueprint—energy veins running across invisible lines in the sky, feeding the illusion with power.
“Master, how will you break this illusion array?”
Li Qingran now stood at his side, eyes shining as she gazed at his profile.
Chen Huaian smiled.
His hand slowly moved to the hilt of his sword.
“With the sword, of course.”
And as those words fell—
The sky began to tremble.
Li Qingran gazed up at the man in white.
Hair as white as snow, robes fluttering like clouds, a faint glow rising from his body—
And in the arc of his arm, a sword flower bloomed, sweeping out a piece of moonlight.
Moonlight so beautiful—
And the man in it, unparalleled.
She clasped her hands at her chest. Her heart was pounding.
But she hesitated.
After all, Master’s real body was still out there battling some terrifying monster.
Was this the right moment to start another fight?
She didn’t know what a Cave Void Realm cultivator’s power truly meant.
She dared not interrupt him recklessly.
So she just stood there, eyes full of reverence, and watched in silence.
“Disciple, watch closely.
Today, I shall teach you… another sword.”
Chi—!
A sword light flashed.
The heavens and earth trembled.
Amid a deep rumble, the sun sank beneath the horizon.
The azure sky darkened to indigo.
The clouds vanished.
And all at once, the entire sky stilled like a mirror—
Reflecting the stars and galaxies like a boundless celestial sea.
This breathtaking phenomenon didn’t just blanket Lingxi Valley.
It spread—
Hundreds of miles across.
Countless cultivators across the region froze in place, staring at the heavens.
A mysterious sense of dread crept through their bones.
An ancient fear, cold and gnawing, wrapped around their hearts.
Yun Suxin stumbled out of her chamber, her face pale.
She didn’t even care about her usual calm and grace—
She leapt into the air, riding the wind, trying to get a closer look.
There—!
Amid the starlight, a white-robed figure stepped on the Milky Way.
Each motion of his sword carved ripples in the sky.
Just as she tried to approach—
She was frozen mid-air.
A crushing pressure locked her body in place.
“S-Senior! May I ask your name?” she called out, trembling.
“Why have you attacked Lingxi Valley?”
Her voice cracked, barely louder than the wind.
“If there has been any misunderstanding… this junior will apologize on behalf of the sect!”
“Please, let’s sit down and talk. Lingxi Valley is willing to offer anything within its power to satisfy Senior’s wrath!”
She was rambling, nearly incoherent.
Because she understood—
What this meant.
To wield the heavens and earth as one’s sword, to summon such a celestial vision—
This was the hallmark of a powerful cultivator in the Fusion Realm.
But this was no ordinary Fusion Realm expert.
The stars. The moon. The Milky Way…
Even holy land ancestors couldn’t do this.
The celestial pressure intensified.
The Milky Way swelled and surged like a roaring ocean above their heads.
The white-robed man in the sky—elegant at first—
Now moved with an overwhelming momentum.
Each sweep of the sword brought a cold wind.
It crept from Yun Suxin’s feet to her scalp.
Her skin turned icy.
Her soul trembled.
She fell to her knees.
“Please… stop…!” she cried out.
“I—I am Yun Suxin, the Young Master of Lingxi Valley! I am willing to atone! Please don’t destroy our home!”
Her mother was still recuperating deep inside the valley.
They had no one strong enough to stand against this… god-like man.
If he struck with full power, Lingxi Valley would vanish in a breath.
“Stop? It’s too late!”
“Enough talking—take this sword!“
His voice boomed like thunder, shaking the earth.
Yun Suxin’s vision blurred.
In her ears, she heard him laugh and recite:
“The incense burner’s sunlit mist coils up in purple smoke,
From afar I see the waterfall—
Hanging high above the river!”
Boom—!
The Milky Way surged like a tidal wave.
Under the white-robed figure’s feet, the stars trembled.
And far below, in Lingxi Valley—
The entire ground shook.
Disciples knelt in horror.
Elders, startled from their closed-door cultivation, escaped in panic.
Those who remained could only watch the sky, paralyzed by dread.
“P-Please… please stop…!”
Yun Suxin tried to speak, her words torn apart by the rumbling of heaven and earth.
Her eyes swam with tears as she looked up at the lone figure stepping through the stars—
And then, with a final, mighty motion—
He raised his sword.
And brought it down.
“The waterfall plunges down from three thousand feet—
As if the Milky Way has… fallen from the sky!”
BOOM—!!!
The Milky Way shattered into ten thousand sword lights,
Cascading from the heavens.
The stars wept.
The world trembled.
And fate, once again, was rewritten in the edge of a sword.
