"Lin Xiao, you didn't register for the Sea God's Fate; acting like this violates the rules."
Voices of several elders came from Sea God Island, but Lin Xiao turned a deaf ear to them; his eyes were fixed only on the figure on the lake surface.
"Elders, since there's already a segment for snatching the bride, how can there still be talk of rules or no rules?"
Lin Xiao lightly tapped the lake surface with the tip of his foot. The calm water immediately rippled outward, yet the lake water was gently pushed aside by his soul power before it could touch his feet, not a single drop landing on them.
"Could it be that on this Sea God Lake, if male and female students truly take a fancy to each other and the bride-snatching succeeds, they would really be forced to part ways?"
"The rules are naturally so."
A voice responding to Lin Xiao came from Sea God Island, accompanied by several beams of multicolored light.
Lin Xiao's expression remained unchanged. Only a strange fluctuation gently rippled around him. When those attacks approached, they strangely passed through his body as if piercing through space, meeting no resistance.
As expected, what he had comprehended during meditation earlier was not an illusion. In this illusory realm, Lin Xiao no longer tried to distinguish what was real and what was false. He simply reached out slightly, and a figure was already pulled into his embrace.
Looking down closely, Lin Xiao finally realized that this illusion's imitation of Zhang Lexuan was remarkably lifelike, not only in appearance, but even her gentle and elegant temperament was indistinguishable.
Raising his head and looking around, he felt as though countless gazes were fixed upon him. Not far away, Bei Bei was staring with wide eyes, seemingly still shocked that in just an instant, the figure beside him had vanished.
If he were still the Lin Xiao from the Holy Spirit Church, he might have felt unaccustomed to such attention, constantly wary of hidden dangers. But now, within this illusory realm, he could allow himself a bit more indulgence.
"Lin Xiao, given the circumstances, the Sea God Pavilion will no longer pursue your transgression, but the difficulty of your bride-snatching will be slightly increased."
Lin Xiao scanned the surroundings, his gaze carefully examining every detail of the scenery around Sea God Lake. After a long while, he suddenly let out a soft sigh. "This place, after all, is not where I belong."
Exhaling a breath, Lin Xiao tightened his arm slightly, his expression abruptly changing. "Then come at me."
As the words fell, the entire illusory world seemed to shrink. All the figures within it, all the auras, even the buildings themselves, began pressing in toward Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao did not activate a single soul ring, nor did he release his martial soul. He merely raised his hand lightly, and an aura of deathly silence instantly spread from his side.
Cold, lonely, Zhang Lexuan in his arms seemed to involuntarily shiver, as if sensing the bone-piercing chill of the extreme north.
This was the "intent" contained within this combat technique of Lin Xiao's.
When he had fought the Snow Empress, he had already sensed this will to bury everything under her power.
Now, through his earlier meditation, he could wield this power for himself.
This, too, was a form of "death."
If the death of "Withering" was the natural passing of vitality—an inevitable, irresistible death that arrived quietly, a gentle form of death—
Then Lin Xiao's new combat technique was different: it actively buried the opponent, completely erasing all traces they had left in this world. This was "death."
It was named Flower Burial.
Whether willing or not, whether they had reached their destined end or not, when Lin Xiao's attack landed, it meant that everything about them from this moment onward was rendered utterly meaningless. What remained was only the fate of being buried in the earth like fallen petals.
Just like this illusory realm, it no longer needed to exist, nor could it continue to do so.
"Crash—"
As if something shattered invisibly, Lin Xiao's body sank. He found himself sitting cross-legged atop a mountain peak. Night winds carried wisps of mist that brushed his face, leaving cool droplets behind.
"Teacher?"
He called softly once more, but Electrolux still did not respond. Frowning slightly, points of light suddenly gathered on the lake surface before him.
Though his eyes remained closed, he could still clearly see everything: the soul beast taking shape, resembling a pegasus yet also a unicorn; the Nightmare Douluo, who should long be dead, appearing once again…
Zhang Lexuan gasped for breath in great gulps. Even though she knew all of this was the method of that Titled Douluo from the Holy Spirit Church, as she watched one familiar face after another fall by her hand, her body still trembled faintly.
Surrounding her were wary gazes. No one here dared reveal their true feelings; the person she could speak to one day might have to fight her to the death the next.
She did not know what was real and what was false, nor did she know—if any of this were truly happening, how Lin Xiao had endured until now. She only knew that, unknowingly, her own hands had also been stained red, unable to distinguish whose blood each strand belonged to.
It seemed an eternity passed before a beam of light appeared before her. With wings on its back, it flew toward her through the air. Her vision had grown blurry; all she could see was a field of crimson.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red, when the final blood-red soul ring rose, the aura around Zhang Lexuan abruptly soared.
The surrounding darkness vanished in an instant. She seemed to have escaped the nightmare. The strange soul beast beside her was gone, leaving only that blood-red soul ring slowly pulsing.
Her chest heaved violently. Zhang Lexuan's gaze fixed dead upon the Nightmare Douluo before her. Her figure suddenly rose into the air.
In the night sky, the light emitted by the scattered stars grew ever brighter. Beams of light wove between the stars, sketching patterns, then converged one after another into the bright moon.
Zhang Lexuan placed her hands before her. Behind her, the bright moon hung high, surrounded and guarded by twinkling stars.
A sound resembling a neigh, yet also a clear shout, rang out, as though the entire canopy of heaven gathered its power and crashed down upon the Nightmare Douluo.
The Nightmare Douluo could neither dodge nor evade. Under this attack, his form gradually dissipated until not the slightest trace remained.
Looking at the now-empty mountain peak before her, a sudden feeling of exhilaration welled up in Zhang Lexuan's heart, as if she had broken free from a cage that had imprisoned her for far too long.
Yet before she could savor it fully, the scene before her flashed, and the surroundings changed once more.
"Sea God's Fate on Sea God Lake…"
That familiar line instantly told her exactly where she was. But before she could clearly see the others around her, the child she knew better than anyone had already appeared before her eyes.
"Senior Sister…"
Hearing his still-youthful voice, she knew in her heart that this was her future destination.
Yet for some reason, she still slightly raised her head to look around, trying to catch sight of that figure who could never possibly appear here…
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