Ji Tongzhou straightened his body. In front of Lei Xiuyuan, he instinctively puffed out his chest and stood tall.
Once, the person he least wanted to lose to in the world was Lei Xiuyuan. Throughout the years from the academy to the cultivation sect, he had indeed never lost. At that time, facing Lei Xiuyuan, he was confident and focused. Later, when Jiang Li Fei followed him, his pride wouldn’t allow him to engage in the absurdity of two men competing for one woman. He hesitated, wandered, and suffered. When he saw Lei Xiuyuan, he raised his head even more proudly, as if he had never been defeated.
Now, all his former friends had passed away, and he was gray-haired, with a heart as hard as iron. The sudden appearance of Lei Xiuyuan in his illusions was identical to the memory he held, yet he still had to lift his head and stand straight. This habit had persisted for four hundred years, and he had not forgotten it.
Ji Tongzhou suddenly felt disinterested. He did not want to see Lei Xiuyuan. Even today, he still does not want to witness the scene of him and Jiang Li Fei together, which had once been the greatest shadow of his youth.
The Xuanhua Fire suddenly spread out, blooming like a giant black flower in the flat ground, instantly dispersing the mist. However, the two illusions did not disappear; instead, they flew up, one in front and one behind, looking down at him from above. Annoying.
The black fire soared hundreds of feet high, engulfing the entire Man Mountain. He did not believe that the Shun could escape. To his surprise, Jiang Li Fei’s voice came clearly from behind the black fire: “The Shun has already been killed by me; these are merely the remnants of the mist. What’s wrong? After four hundred years, have you become so timid that you see us as illusions?”
The lingering spirits would not disperse! The Qilin Bone slung across Ji Tongzhou’s back suddenly shot out, and his body shot up like lightning. Countless black fire dragons spiraled and coiled around the Qilin Bone. That beautifully curved black divine beast bone, when swung, carried a wind and thunder momentum, and the cold electric light split the forest scene apart, with black fire gushing from the cracks, fierce and unbearable.
He thrust his sword at Lei Xiuyuan, but unexpectedly, he ignored the black fire on the Qilin Bone. With his fingers spread wide, he casually grasped it. Ji Tongzhou was slightly startled; Lei Xiuyuan had already kicked him in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground, rolling several times before stabilizing himself.
“…What powerful fire,” Lei Xiuyuan said, looking down at his hand. Countless tiny black flames penetrated and burned his palm, causing excruciating pain. The fire also carried something that was disturbingly trying to invade his skin and meridians.
The white-haired immortal he had forced back attacked again and the sky was filled with black fire as it surged upward. Seeing that the black fire was troublesome, Lei Xiuyuan simply picked up Li Fei and retreated several miles. However, that person closely pursued him, seemingly determined to settle the score.
Suddenly, he transformed into a beam of golden light, fearlessly passing through the black fire. His movements were as swift as lightning, and he grabbed Ji Tongzhou by the neck, throwing him to the ground once more. His sleeve caught fire from the black flames, and he tore off half of his long robe, exposing his right arm, which was already entwined with black fire. Even with his speed, he could not completely evade these black flames.
Li Fei carefully held his left hand, using the Jade Snow Technique to heal the injuries caused by the black fire. She and Lei Xiuyuan had come out to hunt the fierce beast Shun, and after killing one, she unexpectedly sensed Ji Tongzhou’s spiritual energy fluctuations in this deep mountain wilderness.
She quietly watched him. This once bright yet irritable, generous yet careless young prince had now become a cold immortal with a head full of white hair. He only glanced at her at first and then never looked back. At this moment, he was only staring at Lei Xiuyuan, his expression strange. Moments later, he suddenly laughed and said, “What’s this? An illusion calling me a defeated dog? Ha! Hahaha! Lei Xiuyuan, don’t hide; come down and continue!”
Lei Xiuyuan coldly replied, “Who are you?”
Ji Tongzhou’s expression darkened as he said grimly, “Pretending not to recognize me? Such a despicable trick could only come from you. Even in an illusion, I could never lose to you!”
Lei Xiuyuan stared at him for a long time. This person, this face, this body of black fire, was both familiar and strange. Something in his heart stirred, wanting to fight, and only this person’s provocative gaze and tone could ignite that impulse within him.
He slowly pushed Li Fei away, the golden light charging toward the black fire, swift and elusive.
Li Fei did not stop him, nor did she say anything more. That year, they were about to leave the academy for a new cultivation sect, and from then on, they would be worlds apart. Their friends were reluctant to part, and the clever and adaptable Ye Ye thought of a way to have Lei Xiuyuan and Ji Tongzhou agree to a battle on the mountain peak six years later.
Originally a jest, the two boys, who had always fought fiercely, took it seriously, and whenever they wrote letters, they never forgot to mention the promised battle.
Unexpectedly, this dragged on for four hundred years. The friends who had made the promise were long gone. She was no longer the Jiang Li Fei of that year, Lei Xiuyuan was no longer that talented disciple and Ji Tongzhou was no longer the young prince he once was. The jest of a battle from hundreds of years ago suddenly became a reality in this changed world, with only her remaining as a spectator. The feelings involved were beyond words.
She watched as Ji Tongzhou was thrown away by Lei Xiuyuan time and again, only to rise again and again. His body was covered in wounds, and Lei Xiuyuan was also entangled in black fire, injured all over. The fierce night demon, swift as the wind, seemed to have no solution to the Xuanhua Fire and could only endure it. One could imagine how spirited and unstoppable Ji Tongzhou had lived these four hundred years.
Ye Ye and Changyue, Su Wan and Deng Xiguang, Ge Lin and Lu Li… Her friends had all died directly or indirectly at this person’s hands. The saddest part was that this person had once been their good friend.
Li Fei had thought she would be furious upon seeing him, but surprisingly, her heart was oddly calm, calm to the point of indifference. Why should she hate him? The person who hated Ji Tongzhou the most in the world was himself, which was why he had tortured himself to this extent, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.
With her keen sensitivity to spiritual energy, she had long sensed the strange and violent clash of spiritual energy within him, a sign of calamity. If left unchecked, he would not last long; time was running out. Lei Xiuyuan also clearly noticed his abnormality; his movements were no longer as fierce as before but gradually slowed, seemingly to retreat.
Ji Tongzhou shouted, “The outcome isn’t decided yet! Who told you to let up? Come on, continue!”
Lei Xiuyuan replied calmly, “Fighting with a dying person is meaningless. You should save your breath to think about any unfulfilled wishes.”
Ji Tongzhou sneered, “…I’m taking this illusion seriously. In the end, it still disturbs my mind. Not killing you truly fails to vent my anger!”
Lei Xiuyuan ignored him, merely looking up at the sky and saying, “It’s about to dawn; let’s go.”
Dawn? Ji Tongzhou looked at the sky filled with fiery clouds, burning fiercely and reflecting blood-red in his eyes. Jiang Li Fei’s voice softly echoed, “Ji Tongzhou, take care of yourself.”
He instinctively glanced at her. Everything around was crystal clear, but her slender figure remained hidden in the mist, impossible to see clearly. Seeing Lei Xiuyuan embrace her and prepare to leave, he immediately stepped forward to block them, placing the Qilin Bone across his chest, coldly saying, “Since you’ve come out, why not show your true form generously? Hiding in the mist is nothing! Aren’t you trying to confuse me?”
Mist? Li Fei looked down at herself; she was surrounded by clarity, with nothing around her. Ji Tongzhou suddenly pointed to the side and said, “Indeed an illusion; there’s another you over there. Right, this is Man Mountain. You almost got killed by Zhen Yunzi here back then; no wonder.”
He fixed his gaze on the white-clothed girl bound by the Dragon Lock at the cliff’s edge. That day, he had risked his life to save her, facing the grand elder immortal as a mere small cultivation disciple. It seemed to be under a sky of fiery clouds as well. He had held her, feeling as if he were embracing something heavier than his own life, thinking that dying in the next moment would be worth it.
Looking back now, it was nothing but ridiculous.
Li Fei gazed at him thoughtfully and said softly, “Ji Tongzhou, first, this is not Man Mountain. I left a Spirit Tablet here; it records that the Qingcheng Immortal set out from Man Mountain to the overseas. Since then, Man Mountain has been sealed by the Sea Sect. This is merely a remote mountain ridge far from the Wanjian Conference town; second, I have no mist around me; the mist is in your eyes; third, the Shun has long been killed by me. This is not an illusion. What is causing you to hallucinate?”
“Utter nonsense.” Ji Tongzhou laughed twice, “Fine, today my mood is unsettled, and I’ve been arguing with two illusions for too long; it’s truly absurd.”
Li Fei said softly, “Do you know that your calamity has come? You killed Ye Ye and Changyue, killed Su Wan and Deng Xiguang, and Lu Li was also severely injured and died from your Xuanhua Fire. Ge Lin lived a life of melancholy. You know in your heart what you have done. You dare not face it, but what has happened will always remain, and you will never forget. The emotional calamity is the best proof.”
Ji Tongzhou slowly spoke, “Whether this is an illusion or not, your face is still so detestable. Want to warn me? Or do you want to enlighten me? Crying and saying I regret it, that I did wrong, is that what you think is right?” He shook his head, sneering, “If I had to do it again, I would still do the same. It doesn’t matter whether I dare to face it or not; even if it’s wrong, as long as it’s necessary, I will not hesitate.”
Li Fei was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, “Since that’s the case, can you see me now?”