Chapter 15

At the last second, Lin Yu twisted her blade and drove it nearly straight down into the earth, using the recoil to launch herself upward. The Mountain God's lair wasn't below the chasm—so it had to be above.

The divine beast followed her lead, claws catching on the muddy cracks, and leaped up beside her, steadying her swaying form.

Just then, a massive gust of wind blasted from below, carrying both Lin Yu and the beast skyward!

She'd guessed right—the lair was indeed above ground!

The gale swept over them, and when Lin Yu opened her eyes again, she saw the familiar underground cavern. This time, it had been restored, and at its center stood that sacred tree.

Unlike last time, the scattered bones were gone; the ground lay empty. The divine beast had already slipped back into the bracelet on her wrist. Lin Yu rose to her feet and, by the faint glow of the sacred tree, saw that the entire cavern was filled with people lying on the ground.

Someone sobbed softly. "Are we going to die? Are we inside some monster's belly?"

The person beside him answered, "Shut up. Can't you see there's a tree here?"

The sobbing man looked up at the sacred tree, then scrambled to his feet and walked toward it. He circled the roots, inspecting the tree from top to bottom. "This tree looks awfully strange—ah!"

The instant he reached out to touch a branch, the tree opened its trunk like a mouth and swallowed him whole!

"Ah—!" A piercing scream cut through the air.

His cry jolted the people sprawled across the ground, who sat up one after another in terror.

"Wh-what's going on?! The tree eats people!"

"The tree's a demon! It's not going to eat all of us, is it?!"

Earlier, the cavern had been filled only with occasional breathing or sobbing, but at the suggestion that the tree might devour them all, the crowd erupted into panic. A small child burst into loud wails, and the people beside him hastily clamped their hands over his mouth to silence him.

Lin Yu walked past the crowd toward the sacred tree. Its leaves had all withered, and thick, dry bark covered the aged branches. She was certain the sacred tree had lost all signs of life. But if it was dead, how could it eat people?

—Someone was manipulating things from within, luring people inside!

Lin Yu stooped and picked up a withered leaf from the ground before the tree. With a light press of her fingertips, she crumbled it effortlessly. Since that was the case, she might as well see what secrets lay hidden within the tree spirit.

She walked toward the very center of the sacred tree. According to what the Xianzun had said earlier, she was supposed to enter the tree's consciousness, force the spirit out, and claim the tree for herself—but a withered, dead tree was of no use to her.

Lin Yu decided to slay the tree spirit outright. Once the spirit died, the Mountain God would inevitably perish as well. And then, not even the Heavenly God could save him!

"Miss! Don't go near it—that trunk will eat you! Don't go!" An elderly woman leaning against the wall, gasping for breath, scrambled up and grabbed Lin Yu's arm, stopping her from approaching the trunk.

The old woman's eyes were wet with tears, her voice trembling. "That man just got eaten by the tree. It's cursed. Don't go."

She clutched Lin Yu's hand tightly. Her palm was rough, lined with creases like the rings of a tree. Lin Yu smiled and gently patted the back of the old woman's hand, as if to comfort her. Her voice was soft. "Granny, it's all right. When I come out, the tree won't eat anyone anymore."

With that, Lin Yu walked toward the sacred tree without looking back. The moment she touched the trunk, a flash of light enveloped her, and she was swallowed into the tree, entering its consciousness!

...

Lin Yu found herself in a snowy forest, snowflakes still drifting steadily from the sky, blanketing the woods in a thick layer of white. This was the sacred tree's consciousness.

She manifested the Xuantie Bow in its true form. In an instant, a massive bow half the height of a person appeared in her hands. Lin Yu gazed at it, her expression complicated. Just then, her wrist grew warm, and the divine beast slipped out of the bracelet, sitting obediently before her. The beast was pure white all over, seated amid the snow it nearly blended into the drifts entirely.

That day, in the underground passage beneath the imperial palace, the enraged beast had lunged at Lin Yu, snarling. But the moment she drew the Xuantie Bow and aimed it at the creature, it fell silent.

The Xuantie Bow was forged by the Xianzun of the Li Kingdom. The beast had quieted at the sight of it—could this beast in the passage have been raised by the Xianzun?

The Noble Consort had said that passage was the route Zhang Dian took when he fled the palace. But how had Zhang Dian known about the tunnel, and how had he slipped past the beast to escape?

The only answer was that the Xianzun had been helping Zhang Dian.

Why? The Xianzun was said to have withdrawn from the world, wasn't he? Lin Yu thought about it. Zhang Dian was like a child of fate—everyone had ties to him, everyone helped him openly or covertly: Xiao Wen, the Jiang Kingdom's ruler, the Mountain God, the people of Liangcheng, and even the Heavenly God lurking behind the scenes.

And so he'd dodged pursuit, escaped Jincheng without a hitch, made his way to the border, colluded with Jiang Kingdom, quelled the rebellion, and even secured the Mountain God's aid with ease.

Lin Yu looked at the beast sitting dazedly in the snow, blinking its big eyes and staring at her without moving, lost in thought.

Suddenly, all the threads connected. Lin Yu realized that this illusion seemed to have been crafted for Zhang Dian.

She watched, distracted, as the beast pawed at the snow, then dashed toward the mountaintop. At the summit, a towering tree stood against the wind and snow—that was the tree spirit's true body. Cut it down, and everything here would end.

Lin Yu's nose was red from the biting wind. She sniffled and started to follow the beast's tracks up the mountain. But then, something bizarre happened...

In an instant, the massive beast vanished into thin air not far ahead. The huge paw prints in the snow were smoothed away without a trace. The desolate snowfield was left with only Lin Yu!

Then, turning her head, she saw wolves!

One after another, they came from all directions, encircling Lin Yu in a ring!

"Awooo—"

The distant wolf king howled, and at its command, the pack surged forward, more and more wolves charging at her!

Lin Yu put away the Xuantie Bow and summoned Qingxian. A wolf leaped, lunging for her, and with a sharp eye and quick hand, she thrust her sword into the belly of the attacker. Blood sprayed in an arc, and the vast white snowfield finally gained another color.

Blood stained everything. It splattered across her. But kill one, and there was always another pack!

The cold seeped into her bones, and Lin Yu could barely catch her breath. She fixed her gaze on the wolves circling her. Those at the front died, their bodies dissolving into the snow, while those behind trampled over the corpses, wave after wave attacking her.

She couldn't summon back the divine beast—the bracelet on her wrist had lost its glow. Before her, the ground ran with rivers of blood, and she herself was drenched through with gore, a veritable figure of blood, ghastly to behold.

Lin Yu fought with everything she had. The first wave of wolves had been cut down, and amid the red river, she stood at the center in her crimson dress.

"Awooo—"

The wolf king issued another command. At the sound, Lin Yu shivered, her body tensing again just as she'd started to relax. A fresh pack of wolves surged from the distance.

Her ears were frozen red. She stared at the new wolves, but no matter where she looked, she couldn't spot the wolf king giving orders.

Where was the wolf king?

"Qingxian, go! Kill the wolf king!"

Qingxian flew from Lin Yu's hand, straight toward the source of the howl!

Crackling through the leaves of the forest, the sword thrust toward the sound!

Qingxian struck empty air. The howling stopped, and without orders, the wolves froze in place, no longer moving. Qingxian bounced back into Lin Yu's hand.

She shouted into the air. "Come out! You're no Mountain God—you're just a tree demon who stole a thousand years of cultivation by feeding on living sacrifices! How dare you call yourself a god?!"

She knew the Mountain God was here, but he didn't answer her. The wolves had stopped moving, so without a moment's hesitation, Lin Yu picked up Qingxian and raced toward the tree on the mountaintop.

A trail of chaotic prints marked the snow behind her. She reached the tree spirit and swung her sword down!

But the instant the blade touched the trunk, a force rebounded, knocking her sword away. Lin Yu barely managed to grip Qingxian as it nearly flew out of her hand!

"A dead woman, and still you dare defy me?" The Mountain God appeared before her. His hair was stark white, his face the color of bark, and his skin had been replaced by tree bark entirely—he looked like a wooden man brought to life.

He advanced step by step toward Lin Yu!

Lin Yu laughed. "Who's the dead one here is yet to be decided." With that, she slashed at the tree spirit's trunk again.

The Mountain God hadn't expected that, even with him standing right before her, she'd still dare strike at his tree spirit. She was too fast; caught off guard, he couldn't block it in time, and Qingxian carved a gash into the trunk.

"You!" Seeing his tree spirit damaged, rage surged through the Mountain God. His brows shot up, pulling the wrinkles of his face taut. Then, as if a thought struck him, he burst into laughter. "Do you know that the Jiang Kingdom has already breached Liangcheng? Those worthless commoners you've worked so hard to protect are too cowardly to even fight—they've already opened the city gates and surrendered."

Lin Yu's expression shifted.

"You hold the empty title of Divine Maiden, but have you ever asked yourself what you really are? What exactly are you protecting? Huh? What's the point of all your desperate struggling with me? Does anyone respect you? They respect me! Me! I am the Mountain God!"

"I am the true god!"

He was nearly roaring. Lin Yu didn't answer him—she merely watched him with an unreadable gaze. The Mountain God's first move had been to disguise himself as the wolf king, sending the mountain wolves to attack her.

His second move had been merely to deflect Qingxian—nothing more. Neither had been any great feat. Lin Yu guessed that after splitting the ground of Liangcheng, he'd exhausted the borrowed power.

Lin Yu's gaze turned, and a smile crept onto her face. "So what? I have the Xianzun's backing. In a few days, the heavenly tribulation will fall again. When it does, I'll ascend anew, and I'll be a true god, worshipped by all."

She looked at the decrepit "Mountain God" before her, barely holding his human form, with undisguised contempt, and continued, her tone mocking. "Unlike you. Daydreaming."

Lin Yu spoke with utter conviction, as if it were the truth—she'd always been skilled at bluffing and disguising herself. The Mountain God flinched under her gaze.

His eyes turned vicious. "And can you be sure you'll live that long?"

Lin Yu fell silent for a moment. He was right—without recovering her soul, how much time did she have left?

Seeing her doubt, the Mountain God's voice suddenly turned coaxing, like he was sweet-talking a child. "In that case, submit to me. I'll unseal your soul for you. Once you ascend, you can give me a hand. Hell, I'll offer those ungrateful mortals as sacrifices to you, to smooth your path to immortality. How about it?"

A fawning smile spread across his face. "Think it over. You're just one step from the Nine Heavens. And now Liangcheng is caught between internal strife and external invasion. If you end up in a corner and die—what then? Can the Xianzun raise the dead? My power spans the heavens; I can guarantee your ascension."

The Mountain God's eyes narrowed to slits, leaving entirely unmentioned that her last ascension had failed because he, jealous of a girl who'd attained enlightenment so young, had seized the chance to attack her and shatter her opportunity.

Lin Yu seemed almost persuaded. Her gaze wavered, no longer steady. She looked up at the towering tree spirit before her. After a long moment, as if finally giving up the struggle, she let her hand fall. Qingxian slipped from her grasp and disappeared into the snow.

In the frigid air, she heard her own faint voice. "Fine."