Green light formed a barrier around Lian Qiguang.
Outside the barrier, black mist spread endlessly. One wave dissipated, only for another to immediately follow, continuously surging forward without end.
Lian Qiguang was inwardly shocked.
He understood his own wood-element ability better than anyone else. The purifying power within it was naturally the greatest counter to corrosion abilities.
But why…
Who exactly was this person?!
With his left hand, Lian Qiguang maintained the barrier. Frost slowly spun within his palm.
The frost seeped into the ground.
Rows of sharp ice spikes spread outward from beneath his feet, shooting toward the black-clothed man.
The black mist surged forward, enveloping the man completely.
The ice spikes broke apart three meters away from him, transforming into countless sparkling fragments that scattered through the air.
When the black mist dissipated, the man had disappeared.
Lian Qiguang’s palm tightened.
A bad feeling rose in his heart.
He withdrew the green energy and condensed an ice blade in his hand.
But before he could strike—
A wave of black mist suddenly attacked from behind, wrapping around his body.
The ice blade in his hand instantly melted into a puddle of water.
Lian Qiguang struggled forcefully, attempting to break free from the restraints.
However, the more he struggled, the tighter the restraints became.
They dug deeply into his flesh.
Blood seeped out.
A burning pain spread through his body.
The man slowly walked toward Lian Qiguang.
His body hidden beneath the cloak seemed to have no weight at all, lightly passing over the grass without making the slightest sound.
Looking at the approaching man, Lian Qiguang’s brows slightly furrowed.
His eyes darkened.
Just how powerful was this person’s ability?
He could not sense even the slightest fluctuation of ability from him.
The man stopped in front of Lian Qiguang.
The eyes hidden beneath the cloak stared directly into Lian Qiguang’s eyes, as if trying to find something else hidden within them.
Facing the man’s gaze, Lian Qiguang remained cold and expressionless.
He simply allowed the man to examine him.
Perhaps noticing Lian Qiguang’s indifference, the man slowly raised one hand.
His fingers slowly reached toward the space between Lian Qiguang’s eyebrows.
Again and again, he gently traced over him.
It was as if he were caressing a priceless treasure he had loved for an entire lifetime.
Lian Qiguang frowned slightly.
The man’s touch was as cold as a corpse, making him instinctively disgusted.
But because his body was restrained, he could only turn his face away and refuse to look at the person before him.
Lian Qiguang’s resistance caused the man’s movements to pause.
Looking at Lian Qiguang’s exquisite side profile, the man remained silent for a long time.
Then slowly, he pulled Lian Qiguang into his arms.
The stiff movements and icy body made Lian Qiguang momentarily feel as if the person before him was nothing more than a corpse.
If the man’s touch had only caused disgust, then this embrace truly enraged Lian Qiguang.
Lian Qiguang suddenly exerted force and slammed the man away.
Green ability energy burst out from his body.
Without caring about anything else, he frantically attacked the black restraints wrapped around him.
He completely ignored the fact that the black restraints tightened rapidly because of his struggle, tearing open wounds across his body.
Fresh blood spilled from his torn flesh.
Lian Qiguang’s madness clearly caused the man’s movements to freeze.
He wanted to approach and stop him.
But he was forced back by Lian Qiguang’s purifying wood ability.
The black restraints tightened.
Bright red blood stained Lian Qiguang’s clothes and soaked into the ground.
The man seemed to panic.
He reached out and withdrew the restraints from Lian Qiguang’s body.
The moment the black mist loosened—
A cold light flashed in Lian Qiguang’s eyes.
Qian Ming was unsheathed.
He leapt into the air, gathering all his remaining ability power.
The blade descended toward the man.
The man pushed against the ground with both feet and retreated dozens of meters backward, avoiding Lian Qiguang’s fatal strike.
However, because he had been caught off guard, he was still injured.
His body staggered.
He reached out and supported himself against a nearby tree.
Lian Qiguang also suffered from the force of the attack.
A sweetness filled his throat.
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Using his sword to support himself, he fell to one knee.
“Who exactly are you?”
Lian Qiguang looked at the man expressionlessly and asked coldly.
“……”
The man looked at Lian Qiguang covered in blood.
He moved slightly, as if wanting to say something.
But in the end, he stopped.
After taking one final deep look at Lian Qiguang, the man’s figure flashed.
He disappeared from the spot.
The forest returned to silence.
Lian Qiguang stared in the direction where the man disappeared.
He remained silent for a long time.
After a while—
Pain suddenly struck his chest.
Another mouthful of blood spilled from his lips.
His body fell toward the ground.
A black figure flashed past.
The person caught Lian Qiguang just before he hit the ground.
‘Qiu Li Mo.’
Before losing consciousness, Lian Qiguang seemed to see that cold and indifferent young man covered in blood, his face pale.
In a haze, Lian Qiguang passed through a stretch of darkness.
He arrived inside a pale room.
‘Have I returned again?’
Lian Qiguang lowered his head and looked at his own floating body.
Expressionless, he reached his hand through the wall.
Then he pulled it back.
Inside the small yet clean and exquisite room, a pale-faced young man quietly lay on the bed.
The silent room contained only the faint sound of his breathing.
Lian Qiguang slowly floated beside the young man.
He leaned closer.
When he clearly saw the young man’s appearance, even Lian Qiguang’s calm face revealed a trace of astonishment.
This was him?
His previous life self.
It seemed the young man was about to wake.
His brows slightly tightened.
His eyes trembled.
Lian Qiguang suppressed his surprise, stepped backward, and expressionlessly watched as the young man slowly opened his eyes.
Perhaps because he had only just awakened, the young man’s eyes contained a trace of confusion.
He blankly examined his surroundings.
Suddenly—
The young man’s gaze sharpened.
His eyes stopped directly on Lian Qiguang’s position.
Lian Qiguang remained unmoved.
He floated in the air, expressionless, meeting the young man’s gaze.
After a moment, the young man lowered his guard.
He withdrew his gaze and slowly sat up.
BANG!!
A loud crash sounded.
The door was shattered into pieces.
A young man stormed inside with overwhelming anger.
The pale-faced youth paused slightly in his movement.
But soon, he returned to normal and continued what he was doing, as if he had not seen the person who entered.
“Commander!”
Behind the young man was Su Lang, his face filled with urgency.
“Get out!”
“Commander…”
Su Lang seemed to want to say something.
But two soldiers who followed behind quickly pulled him back.
For a moment, only the young man, the youth, and Lian Qiguang remained inside the room.
Of course—
That was only if Lian Qiguang could still be considered human now.
“Dark Light!!”
Seeing that the youth had decided to ignore him completely, the young man shouted furiously.
He stepped forward, grabbed the youth’s shoulder, and pushed him down onto the head of the bed.
Those sharp, upward-slanting phoenix-like eyes were now filled with raging fury and gloom.
“……”
The youth.
“……”
Kill him!
Lian Qiguang stared expressionlessly at the young man’s two hands.
“Do you really want to die that badly?”
The young man’s face was terrifyingly cold.
Through gritted teeth, he spoke:
“Do you know that if not for a wood-element ability user pulling you back, you would have already been eaten by those corpses below the city wall?”
“You would have disappeared without even leaving bones behind!”
“……”
The youth.
“I don’t understand what you are talking about.”
The youth expressionlessly pushed away the young man’s hand and spoke calmly.
“Dark Light!!”
“Little Crown Prince.”
The youth’s eyes turned cold.
He expressionlessly looked toward the furious face before him.
The two stared at each other for a long time.
Suddenly, the young man stood up.
He turned around, closed his eyes, and forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart.
The youth straightened his messy clothes.
He calmly looked out the window, completely ignoring the young man’s rage.
“Teacher.”
After a long time, the young man finally calmed himself.
He turned around and stared sharply at the youth.
His voice was cold.
“Why did you jump off the city wall?”
“Give me an explanation!!”
“……”
Lian Qiguang.
Jump off the city wall?
Why did that sound somewhat familiar?
“Do you know that if a wood-element ability user hadn’t caught you, you would have been torn apart by those corpses and completely devoured?!”
The youth turned back and looked expressionlessly at the young man.
“I don’t understand what you are saying.”
He repeated himself.
“Teacher!!”
“If you are here just to cause trouble without reason, then leave.”
“Teacher.”
The young man lowered his eyelids.
His gaze became dark and cold as he looked at the youth.
“Don’t even think about escaping.”
“As long as I am still in hell, Teacher…”
“Don’t even think about getting rid of me.”
The youth remained expressionless as he looked at the suddenly darkened young man.
His brows slightly furrowed.
“You’re sick.”
So he didn’t die?
Lian Qiguang raised his head and looked expressionlessly at the pale ceiling.
His thoughts moved rapidly.
In his memories, it seemed that something like this had indeed happened.
After he woke up one time, the Little Crown Prince had kicked his door apart, rushed in, gone completely insane, and said a bunch of things he could not understand.
Could this be that moment?
“Vmmmmmmmm…”
A sharp buzzing sound spread inside his ears.
Lian Qiguang frowned.
His hands instinctively covered his ears.
The buzzing grew louder and louder.
A tearing pain suddenly exploded inside his head.
“Ugh…”
Lian Qiguang curled up.
His face became terrifyingly pale.
The surrounding scenery began twisting and distorting.
A powerful force pulled him into endless darkness.
“Second Brother! Second Brother?!”
“Qiguang!”
“Second Brother, wake up…”
“Qiguang! Can you hear me?”
……
So noisy.
Within the darkness, Lian Qiguang only felt countless chaotic voices coming from every direction.
The distorted space separated those sounds into broken fragments.
Hearing them made his head ache painfully.
“Second Brother! Second Brother, wake up! Second Brother? Can you hear me?”
……
I really want to cut her down.
In a daze, Lian Qiguang forced open his heavy eyes.
A trace of killing intent flashed deep within them.
“Second Brother!!”
……