“Master was waiting for me to be his first disciple…呜呜呜呜!”
Ji Fuyao’s face was streaked with tears.
Before she had come to formally acknowledge him as her Master, Lu Xuan hadn't taken a single disciple. Only now did she understand. It wasn't that he couldn't take disciples; he had been waiting for her!
Seven long years without a single disciple! And in those seven years, how much indignity had her Master endured? An invincible powerhouse, yet he was called the 'good-for-nothing Peak Lord' of the Southern Wilds, denied the respect and reverence due to him from the sect elders and disciples.
“It’s all my fault…”
Ji Fuyao choked back a sob, tears blossoming across her exquisite face.
Master had always been invincible! From the very genesis of this starry sky, he had been peerless!
And to think, when she first sought him out, it was merely to safeguard the secret of her reincarnation. In her heart, she had even harbored a slight disdain for him!
But Master truly lived up to his title! He had immediately offered her Dragon Meat, then bestowed upon her a Dao Foundation Pill, restoring her own Dao Foundation to perfection.
“Master must have known I was coming, preparing all of it for me in advance!”
“Master, oh Master…”
Ji Fuyao’s delicate frame trembled, caught between calling him ‘Master’ or ‘Sir.’ She had finally become his disciple!
Then, a torrent of memories flooded Ji Fuyao’s mind. From the moment she stepped onto Azure Mystery Peak, Master had been exceptionally kind to her. Unbelievably so! Emperor Weapons, Emperor-tier cultivation techniques! And later, in Liucheng, it was Master who had saved her!
Ji Fuyao murmured to herself, “Could all of this have been Master’s grand design? After the Fuyao Dynasty was annihilated by the Heavenly Net Hall, Master must have intervened, preventing my demise and allowing me to reincarnate!”
At this moment, a mix of joy and sorrow welled within her. Master had been too good to her.
Ji Fuyao remained kneeling for a long time before slowly rising. She noticed several Vision Fragments shimmering within the Unbounded Sea of Fire. Wiping the tears from her face, she walked towards one of them.
With a delicate touch, Ji Fuyao’s fair hand gently tapped the shimmering fragment.
Boom! Ji Fuyao felt a sudden disorientation as she stepped back into the Vision Fragment…
The Tai Chu Realm, vast and boundless, unfolded before her. Above and below, countless phantom figures clashed in an endless battle. This was combat on an Ancient Ancestor Level! Spatial Tears ripped through reality, and Spatial Distortion warped the very fabric of existence!
Where Ji Fuyao stood, the world had transformed into an Unbounded Sea of Fire. Clad in a fiery red gown, she stood amidst the inferno, a broken Long Spear clutched in her hand. Her body was drenched in blood, grievously wounded, and crimson rivulets streamed from her delicate jade hands.
“Sir! Sir!” Ji Fuyao’s eyes were bloodshot, her body pushed to its absolute limit, yet she refused to fall!
“For Sir, I fight!” Her Spirit Fire Dao blazed, unyielding and eternal!
Boom! Ji Fuyao swept her Long Spear, and the boundless Spirit Fire Dao erupted, manifesting as countless fiery dragons that roared in every direction. The Heaven-Burning Art! This was Ji Fuyao’s very Dao—the Spirit Fire Dao, capable of burning the heavens, boiling the seas, and refining the very Firmament!
Swoosh! With a single thrust of her spear, Ji Fuyao annihilated a Nine-star Myriad Phase Realm opponent before her, gritting her teeth. “Traitors! All of them are traitors!”
Having dispatched her foe, Ji Fuyao gripped her Long Spear and charged directly towards the white-robed figure in the distance. “Sir, I’m here to aid you!”
In the distance, the white-robed man stood unmoving in the void, his back to the vast Firmament. The Great Dao within him roared like thunder, radiating brilliant light as it manifested, a towering figure bridging heaven and earth.
Boom! He stood alone, battling a multitude of Ancient Ancestors! The majority hailed from the Eerie Plateau, but even more shockingly, Innate Ancient Ancestor Mei, Lie Yuan, and others who had betrayed Sir were also attacking the white-robed man!
Countless other figures, a dense swarm of them, were also present. These were powerful cultivators who had once received Sir’s teachings, yet now they turned their blades against him, seeking to grind away his Great Dao, annihilate his very existence, and cast him into eternal oblivion.
Swoosh! Ji Fuyao swept her spear, and a torrent of Spirit Fire power surged forth, tearing open the very fabric of reality before her, creating a gaping Abyss. Her might was overwhelming!
A stunningly beautiful and seductive woman, who had been among those besieging the white-robed man, suddenly turned. Her figure was alluring, radiating an aura of pure enchantment. Her long gown billowed around her, revealing fair, shapely legs as she charged directly at Ji Fuyao.
This woman was none other than Innate Ancient Ancestor Mei! Her face was identical to Liu Ruyan’s!
Innate Ancient Ancestor Mei licked her luscious, crimson lips, a cruel, teasing smile playing on them. “Ji Fuyao, today you’ll have the distinct honor of dying alongside Sir.”
Rage ignited Ji Fuyao’s exquisite face, and flames seemed to flicker in her eyes. Gritting her teeth, she demanded, “Why?! You claim to love Master so deeply, yet you betray him? Why?!”
Ancient Ancestor Mei glanced back at the white-robed man, then turned her gaze back to Ji Fuyao. “My affection for Sir is no secret. Just as it’s no secret that you love Sir, Baili loves Sir, Ah Li loves Sir, Qingqiu loves Sir… This world is filled with those who adore Sir.”
“But just as many despise him! We Innate Ancient Ancestors all loathe him! We all want him dead! And the beings of the Eerie Plateau? They want him annihilated just as much!”
“What Sir probably never anticipated, however, is that even those he personally enlightened would turn their backs on him.”
Ji Fuyao’s eyes burned with fury. “And you?”
Ancient Ancestor Mei merely smiled, a predatory, dangerous bloom. “Me? What I cannot possess, I shall destroy. Perhaps Sir existing only in my memories is the form I truly prefer.”
“You traitor!” Ji Fuyao roared, lunging at Ancient Ancestor Mei with her spear.
But it was useless! Ancient Ancestor Mei barely moved, effortlessly seizing Ji Fuyao’s Long Spear. With a casual squeeze—CRACK!—Ji Fuyao’s Ancient Ancestor Level Long Spear shattered into dust!
Ancient Ancestor Mei then slammed a palm into Ji Fuyao’s chest, utterly shattering her Spirit Fire Dao. “Die, Ji Fuyao! To be honest, I’m still a little jealous of you. After all, you spent the most time by Sir’s side.”
Boom! Ji Fuyao was sent hurtling tens of thousands of miles through the void, her aura flickering, on the verge of extinction!
A Blade Qi slashed down towards Ji Fuyao’s body! Just then, a white-robed figure appeared, enveloping Ji Fuyao in an embrace and annihilating the incoming Blade Qi.
“Sir, I can still fight…” she whispered, though her aura grew increasingly faint.
“Am I… going to die?” The white-robed man nodded slowly.
Two clear streams of tears traced paths down Ji Fuyao’s face. “Sir, I… I can’t bear to leave you…”
Her voice grew fainter, almost imperceptible, as she pressed her exquisite face tightly against the white-robed man’s chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart. It was the first time she had ever been so close to him. Even in death’s embrace, the sensation was profoundly comforting. She truly couldn’t bear to leave Sir!
“Sir, I… I…” Ji Fuyao faltered, tears still streaming. Her delicate body trembled as she lifted her beautiful face slightly, gazing up at the white-robed man. In a voice barely a whisper, she asked, “Sir, if there is a next life, will you… will you promise to take me as your disciple?”