At this moment, Xuanyuan Lige’s face remained deathly pale, though different from before — this pallor was clearly the effect of the Five-Element barrier’s recovery, replenishing the basic energy his body needed. He was gradually recovering.
Yet, would Meng Wanyue really allow him to recover just like that?
After all, once Xuanyuan Lige recovered, she wouldn’t be able to escape even if she tried.
Seeing Xuanyuan Lige’s eyelids beginning to flutter, Meng Wanyue immediately formed a seal with both hands, casting a “draw” technique. Purple light flickered from her hands, and gradually, a layer of purple radiance began to surface on Xuanyuan Lige’s body as well!
With a single forceful pull, Meng Wanyue drew out the vast majority of the Five-Element seal’s power from Xuanyuan Lige’s body, leaving him with only a tenth of its strength!
At first, Xuanyuan Lige’s complexion showed little change, but by the time Meng Wanyue finally withdrew her hands, he had collapsed entirely, as though his very soul had been drained away — looking for all the world like nothing more than a corpse!
Meng Wanyue merely glanced at him, confirming he was still alive, then focused entirely on her own meditation and cultivation.
A full ninety-five percent of the Five-Element barrier’s power — more than enough for her to thoroughly absorb and refine!
Of course, she didn’t linger in the cave for long. Three days later, even though she hadn’t fully digested and absorbed all the power she’d drawn, and Xuanyuan Lige remained unconscious, she still gathered him up and continued southward.
Only by leaving the Longyuan mainland, leaving Jun Beiyue’s sphere of influence entirely, could she truly be safe!
Another three days passed, and the Five-Element seal within Xuanyuan Lige’s body had recovered considerably, though not yet fully.
He finally regained consciousness in a hazy fog, and upon seeing nothing but desolate wilderness around him, was startled awake with a jolt.
His last memory had been at the gates of the Xi Chu capital, desperately trying to cross over the wall — even if it meant death, he was determined to die within the Xi Chu capital itself.
But right at that moment, he’d suddenly lost consciousness, utterly unaware of everything that followed.
Xuanyuan Lige had only just woken and had no time to think further before immediately sensing someone behind him. He whirled around abruptly, his heart lurching with shock.
“It’s you!”
Meng Wanyue sat perched in a tree. Despite her advanced age, her movements remained remarkably nimble. She smiled, looking Xuanyuan Lige over. “Well, boy, I saved you — how do you plan to repay me for that?”
Meng Wanyue certainly wasn’t foolish enough to tell Xuanyuan Lige the truth.
“It was Mi’er who freed you!” Xuanyuan Lige said coldly. The moment his anger flared, he suddenly felt all the blood in his body rush straight to his head, and he immediately realized something was very wrong with his condition!
This sensation was nothing like his usual illness, nor was it anything like what he’d felt after the Five-Element seal had first been cast upon him!
It felt as though something had been drained from his body, leaving him weak all over — his mind sharp and clear, yet his body seemingly still half-asleep.
Xuanyuan Lige narrowed his eyes. He knew there was only one possible explanation — Meng Wanyue, well-versed in barrier arts, had tampered with the Five-Element seal on his body!
“Boy, your body is very weak right now — you mustn’t let anger get the better of you. It really was that girl who freed me. You should reward her handsomely — without her, you wouldn’t have survived until now!” Meng Wanyue said, still smiling amiably.
Yet Xuanyuan Lige only laughed coldly. “Spare me the act in front of me! Without me, you wouldn’t have survived until now either! Meng Wanyue, what exactly are you planning? Why don’t you just say it plainly?”
At this, Meng Wanyue laughed even harder. “Boy, you truly are fascinating. To this day, I still can’t quite understand — why did you save me, why did you save me only to then imprison me, when you clearly knew I posed the most fatal threat possible to Jun Beiyue!”
Meng Wanyue genuinely couldn’t fathom it. Back in the boundless deep sea, she’d told Xuanyuan Lige everything in detail, begging him to rescue her, even swearing to the heavens that she would help him deal with Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing, that she’d surely find a way to ensure they’d never rise again!
Yet, back then, even as she’d spoken so passionately, sincerely making that vow — this boy had remained utterly expressionless throughout!
Without another word, he’d simply taken her away from the boundless deep sea. She’d thought she’d found a benefactor, thought Xuanyuan Lige would join forces with her.
But who would have guessed — after leading her out of the boundless deep sea, Xuanyuan Lige had simply confined her within the military camp, apparently with no intention of doing anything at all!
Xuanyuan Lige looked at Meng Wanyue, deliberately sidestepping her question, and instead asked in return, “Tell me — what exactly do you want?”
Meng Wanyue smiled. “Our enemy is, after all, the same one, isn’t it?”
A cold smile curled at Xuanyuan Lige’s lips, though he silently answered Meng Wanyue’s question in his heart: “No, it isn’t.”
He’d rescued Meng Wanyue, imprisoned Meng Wanyue — for the exact same reason he’d killed the Second Young Beast Master. He would never allow anyone to use the secret of the isolated island to threaten Ziqing!
Everything he’d done, then and now, had always been directed solely at Jun Beiyue!
Never, ever, had it been directed at Ziqing!
He’d said it before — Jun Beiyue had lost Ziqing twice, and didn’t deserve to possess both the realm and Ziqing at the same time!
So he refused to accept it!
He refused to accept Jun Beiyue wanting both the world and the woman at once!
Wanting both the world and the woman, possessing such ability, harboring such ambition — then why let Ziqing get hurt at all!
That time with Yanzi, that time in the world of poison beasts — why let Ziqing suffer such grievous wounds!
Jun Beiyue, your heart doesn’t belong entirely to Ziqing at all!
What right do you have to claim her whole and undivided devotion!
Jun Beiyue, since you chose Ziqing, since you clearly knew her origins were so extraordinary, why did you still insist on trying to have the realm as well!
On the path to finding the isolated island, how many times had the affairs of the realm delayed them?
Xuanyuan Lige couldn’t understand it, would never understand it even in death!
He was such a pure, single-minded man — for love, he could give up everything else, devote himself wholly and completely.
He was such a stubborn man — stubborn enough that his heart, and his words, refused to yield to Jun Beiyue!
And so, he would contest for this realm, would fight Jun Beiyue for it!
He would rather die by Ziqing’s own sword, die within the Xi Chu capital, even if it meant being despised by all the world, he would still fight until blood was shed!
Watching Meng Wanyue’s smug expression, Xuanyuan Lige remained outwardly unmoved, yet the killing intent within him had already reached its absolute peak!
He cared nothing for whatever grievances lay between Meng Wanyue and her son Jun Beiyue — he only knew that if this woman dared set her sights on Ziqing, especially on Ziqing’s origins, he would absolutely ensure she died without even a grave to be buried in.
In this entire world, only I am permitted to be her enemy. No one else — no one at all!
A flicker of malice crossed Xuanyuan Lige’s ghastly pale, handsome face as he said flatly, “How exactly is it the same? Go on, explain.”
Meng Wanyue was overjoyed. Aside from concealing the secret of the Five-Element seal, she had no intention of hiding anything else from Xuanyuan Lige.
She was, of course, well aware that Xuanyuan Lige harbored feelings for Han Ziqing — but given the current situation, with Xuanyuan Lige having spared not even Han Ziqing’s closest friend Yelu Qianqian, Meng Wanyue was convinced this man’s heart had long since given up on Han Ziqing entirely!
She smiled, lowering her voice…