Chapter 111

Exposed.

She'd always known that once the Xianzun returned, he'd see through her fake identity. She just hadn't expected it to happen so soon—or that he'd come back ahead of schedule.

Coming back early and lying in wait for her... what was he after? Lin Yu couldn't read his motives.

She gave the Xianzun a brief smile, her tone as casual as ever. "Xianzun, whatever are you talking about?"

She meant to probe him first, find out how much he knew—whether he'd only discovered that "Lin Yu" was a false name, or if he knew more.

Di Ting still hadn't contacted her, so she couldn't be sure he'd obtained the Book of Fate.

If it was just the name, she could spin that easily enough. But if it involved the Book of Fate, she'd have no choice but to silence him.

Either way, her plan wouldn't change. After tonight, she'd head north, ally with the Moon God, claim the Myriad Spirits Sword, and kill the God of War and the Crimson God.

And this very night, the identity "Lin Yu" had to vanish for good. From now on, she would be Lin Jiyue.

It didn't bother her one bit to erase that false identity and take a dying Xianzun with her.

If word leaked tomorrow that the Xianzun and the Divine Maiden of Heaven's Mandate Tower had perished together—what would happen then? How would the Tower fare? The thought was almost amusing.

No candles lit the quiet, dim hall. Lin Yu's footsteps echoed as she approached the Xianzun, making small talk. "Why are you back so early, Xianzun? Did the trip to the heavenly realm go well?"

But just as she closed to a single step away, he stepped back, deliberately creating distance.

Suspicion?

A dagger slid from her sleeve into her palm. Lin Yu turned her wrist lightly to grip the hilt, smiling. "Master."

"Why don't you say anything?"

It was the first time she'd seriously called him Master. The Xianzun finally lifted his eyes to her, the tension easing slightly. "Go on, then. Who are you?"

He sat down in a chair, relaxing a bit. Perhaps that one "Master" had changed his mind.

He looked at her. She stood not far from the window, her silhouette blurred in the shifting light and shadow.

"I told you from the start—whatever trouble you run into, I'll take care of it for you."

"But what did you do? You didn't trust your master. You've been wary of me all along." He sighed. "Why?"

Since Lin Yu had joined Heaven's Mandate Tower, the Xianzun rarely saw her, and often found no trace of her. Gradually, he'd realized she was avoiding him.

"The moment I set eyes on you, I accepted you, whoever you were. A master accepts all of his disciple's past. But you've never once told me yours."

His tone was like an elder patiently admonishing a junior. "You're the Divine Maiden I chose, and I'm your master. Yet you won't even reveal your identity. What kind of trouble is so great that you'd abandon your name and hide yourself away, so cautious and wary?"

"There's no power greater in this world than divine authority. Before the gods, even emperors are nothing. So whatever you've faced, tell your master, and I'll settle it for you."

At that, Lin Yu understood. The Xianzun had learned that "Lin Yu" was a false identity—nothing more. And he'd guessed wrong.

He seemed to think she was some pitiable soul who'd made enemies and been forced to abandon her true identity, living under a false name. Or perhaps she'd committed a great sin, and, fleeing her past, had gone into hiding, unwilling to tell him her history.

His earlier wariness was just because he felt she didn't trust him?

Lin Yu didn't answer. She could never trust the Xianzun. Between them lay a blood feud, countless lives. She couldn't bring herself to speak insincere words just for the sake of the situation.

Times had changed. She was no longer the Lin Yu who'd first entered Heaven's Mandate Tower, dependent on the Xianzun's approval to be Divine Maiden. Now, he was useless to her.

He'd become a discarded piece.

Moonlight spilled over his lustrous hair. His white locks shimmered faintly in the darkness, and in this moment, he did resemble an immortal. Through his aged features, she saw the young face she'd glimpsed in the back mountains days ago.

Just as those disciples said, the Xianzun looked very much like Ming Jing—so alike that ordinary people couldn't tell them apart. The only difference was that Ming Jing kept the appearance of someone in his twenties or thirties, while the Xianzun was withered with age.

Yes, he only revealed his aged form to her. To all other disciples, he'd always been a man in his thirties.

The Xianzun had told her everything, held nothing back, but she'd never spoken a single truth to him.

Lin Yu found it amusing. She stepped closer and softly called, "Master."

"Master, then can you tell me—out of so many people, why did you choose me?"

Countless had vied to be Divine Maiden of Heaven's Mandate Tower. Even after all this time, many still coveted the position, hoping to pull her down and take her place.

Those who'd come to pay respects to the Xianzun and beg to become his disciple must have been legion—she was far from the only one.

Yet he'd accepted her on first meeting without a single question. She'd often wondered why.

It wasn't until she saw Ming Jing that she understood—it was because of A Si.

Because of a face so strikingly similar to that of a departed acquaintance.

The Xianzun didn't beat around the bush. He said bluntly, "I told you before, the previous Divine Maiden, her name was A Si. You look very much like her."

"How alike?" Lin Yu feigned interest. "Could you tell me more, Master?"

"I hold deep admiration for the Rain Goddess, but I've never heard any stories of her before her Ascension. Would you tell me, Master?"

"I can." The Xianzun's gaze was heavy. "But you must also tell me your past."

That did sound like a fair trade. Lin Yu lowered her eyes, saying nothing, as if considering.

The Xianzun added, "Whatever mistakes you've made, I'll settle them for you, and help you restore your true identity. From then on, you won't have to live in fear under a false name."

Her true identity?

Lin Yu dropped her gaze, then curled her lips into a smile. "Very well, I'll do as my master says..."

"Come here." The Xianzun pulled her to sit. Bushou Hall remained without light, pitch black, the moonlight dimming further. The wind picked up, winding around the window lattice like ghostly wailing.

A gale raged outside as the Xianzun spoke softly. "She was an unpopular princess of the Jiang Kingdom. Because she had some connection to the queen of the Yu Kingdom at the time, she was recommended to Heaven's Mandate Tower and became... my disciple."

The queen back then had been Fu Ming's mother. Lin Yu listened attentively as he continued. She understood the reason for his pause—A Si hadn't been his disciple, but Ming Jing's. He'd come later.

"Her aptitude was poor, and for many years her Ascension tribulation never came. Just then, the Jiang Kingdom went to war with the Li Kingdom. Jiang lost, and she volunteered to leave Heaven's Mandate Tower and return to her homeland."

"Why?" Lin Yu asked. "She was only an unpopular princess. The war was lost—what could she do by giving up her position as Divine Maiden?"

"Because of the Xianzun of the Li Kingdom." The Xianzun gazed out the window. "He cast a divination for Zhang Ni, the new emperor of Li, telling him that A Si, the Divine Maiden of the Yu Kingdom, was his destined match and would become his empress."

The Xianzun of Li... Lin Yu recalled the septuagenarian elder she'd met in the alchemy chamber of the Li Kingdom imperial palace illusion. So it had been him.

He was the root of it all.

"So Zhang Ni sent envoys to the Jiang Kingdom to seek A Si's hand in marriage. The Jiang emperor agreed. For the peace of both nations, she had to return."

As he spoke, the Xianzun's eyes were thick with undeniable sorrow, as if lost in memory. Looking at the face before him, so like the A Si in his memory, he couldn't help but feel melancholic.

As if possessed, he reached out, wanting to caress the young woman's face.

But the one before him wasn't the one in his memory. Sensing his movement, Lin Yu instinctively frowned and stepped back, and the Xianzun's hand caught only air.

The Xianzun wasn't angered. He rubbed his fingers and withdrew. "I didn't want her to marry. Even if that man were an emperor, even if she'd become empress, I still didn't want her to."

His words carried a resentment he himself hadn't noticed. "Thankfully, heaven favored me. On her way to the Li Kingdom, her tribulation descended, and she successfully Ascended to godhood."

Lin Yu looked up. The Xianzun was lying.

No one knew A Si's story better than she did. A Si hadn't Ascended smoothly—she'd been robbed of her soul by the Mountain God and died on Gujin Mountain.

After that, Ming Jing had traded one life for another, buying A Si seven days of life. By then, Ming Jing's fortune had scattered, and on the brink of death, he'd been saved by the Xianzun.

Having nearly died once, Ming Jing no longer wished to serve as Xianzun of Heaven's Mandate Tower, so the position had changed hands.

The Xianzun had deliberately hidden this chapter—the very path by which he'd replaced the original Xianzun, Ming Jing, to become the new master of the Tower.

The Xianzun paused for a long while before continuing. "Unfortunately, not long after her Ascension, she vanished without a trace. Later, her fate star fell, and I knew then that she was dead."

"A Si failed, and my years of effort were wasted. So you must succeed. You will Ascend to godhood and be remembered for ten thousand generations."

"But Master, what if I can't Ascend?" Lin Yu cut him off, asking lightly.

"You will Ascend." His tone was absolute. "So, tell me your true identity, and I'll find a way to locate your real Book of Fate."

And then what? Tamper with the Book of Fate? But Lin Yu didn't believe in any so-called Book of Fate at all.

Could the Book of Fate have foreseen the life she lived now?

She didn't believe in destiny ordained by heaven. She only believed that human will could overcome fate.

"My true identity..." She paused. "Master should already know. I've had dealings with you since I was young."

"You must remember me."

The Xianzun turned to look at her, confused. "Are you the young lady of some fallen official family?"

"Or some noble's illegitimate child..." He stopped mid-sentence, finding it absurd. How could that be?

But if she'd had dealings with him when young, she could only be the child of princes, nobles, or great clans.

Lin Yu watched him ponder, a smile playing on her lips, and reminded him, "Have you forgotten? Ten years ago, you once delivered a divine edict on behalf of Immortal Lord He."

"I heard that Immortal Lord He had a prophetic dream—of what would happen ten years later. In the dream, he was killed by a young woman, dying with his eyes wide open."

Her smile turned colder. "So you ordered the Cultivation Academies across the realm to slaughter all ten-year-old girls in the entire Yu Kingdom."

A gale raged outside the window. Bang—

The window slammed shut under the wind's force, sealing the gale out. Moonlight was driven away, plunging the hall into utter darkness.

Along with that loud crash, the Xianzun's thoughts exploded.

Few things were memorable enough for him to keep, but this divine edict was one—because the slaughter across the kingdom had lasted nearly half a year, yet they'd never found the girl the prophecy spoke of.

With no exact target, they'd killed indiscriminately to be safe. Any child around ten who bore even the slightest resemblance to that portrait was doomed, all to eliminate any possibility of missing her.

"Master, you sent so many people searching for me for a full half year, killed countless lives on my account—how could you have forgotten me?"