Translator: Fate Translation Checker: Silavin The black-robed old man seemed to be surrounded by an inextinguishable black fog as he stood in the sky. His hunched silhouette made him seem remarkably old. “Ah Man… Why did you become like this? Who caused this change in you?” He was staring at the young woman with an icy expression in front of him, seemingly in disbelief. He could not resist seeking answers from her. However, despite his words, Ah Man remained unchanged. “Even at a time like this, are you still trying to hide the truth from me?” Ah Man’s gaze was frosty. “Hide what from you? I see that you’re all grown up now. You’re no longer the little girl who would run circles around me,” the black-robed old man muttered. He seemed to be having a hard time believing what he had just heard from her. “Now that things have come to this, do you still think there’s a point in saying these things?” Ah Man’s gaze grew even colder. There was no shred of warmth in them. The black-robed old man froze in shock. He stared at Ah Man. It was as if he wanted to confirm that she had been the one who said those words. “Haha…” All of a sudden, he let out a burst of unrestrained laughter. He did not even attempt to hide it. The face beneath the hood was gnarled like a dried-up tree branch. His sunken eyes were cold as ice. There was no trace of the warmth and gentleness Ah Man used to see in them. The black-robed old man looked around and took in the horrifying scene that seemed to have come right out of hell, but his expression remained unmoved. Then, he turned back to Ah Man and asked. “I’m curious to know how you managed to do all this…” He would not have rushed over from the settlement and witnessed this event himself if he had not sensed that the pawn he had planted within the Primeval Deity Sect had died, with the connection between them having been cut off. In his eyes, the dutiful and obedient little girl who had been growing up according to her destiny would never have discovered the truth. She certainly would not have massacred the entire Sect the way she did now. No one had been able to stand against her. The place was littered with bodies and pools of blood. There was no way this could have happened. It was unthinkable. Ah Man was surrounded by a bloody glow. She looked like a fragile flower that showered in a rain of blood. Her flawless fair face was tainted with streaks of blood, but her expression remained cold as she said, “I’m even more curious to know why you’ve been lying to me this whole time, my dear Grandfather.” “Lying to you? I can’t believe I’m hearing that from you. How have I lied to you? Are you saying that the memories we shared throughout all these years have been nothing but lies? If you did what you were supposed to do and followed the path you were supposed to take as you grow up, I would still be your Grandfather. You should never have found out about it beforehand.” The black-robed old man smiled at her, but in Ah Man’s eyes, the smile was that of pure mockery. “You would have still been my Grandfather, huh? Is that the answer you’re giving me?” Ah Man’s eyes flickered with a trace of emotion. “Grandfather…” “Since you call me Grandfather, I can tell you this. It doesn’t matter how or why you found out the truth in advance. But, you can’t escape from this. It is something you must go through. It’s a destiny that you cannot escape from.” The black-robed old man declared harshly with a cold sneer. “Destiny?” Ah Man was hearing this word again, but her expression remained icy. It did not seem to affect her much. “Lying to me and forcing me to awaken my demonic side is your so-called destiny?” “You know about your demonic side too? I suppose you’ve regained your past memories.” The black-robed old man’s smile began even more taunting. “My past memories?” Ah Man tensed up. She did not think she would hear such an unbelievable thing once more. [Does this mean I have memories from a time before this? Memories from a very long time ago?] She felt an excruciating pain in her head. It was as if the world before her eyes had shattered, and many scattered memories began to emerge and stack up together. What was real and what was fake kept overlapping. Ah Man could no longer tell what was real to her and what was merely illusions. “Haha. It seems to me that you don’t know about them yet. That makes sense. You couldn’t have recalled those things so easily.” The black-robed old man sneered with a pitying look. He came down from the sky. A terrifying aura seemed to wash over like a wave. He tried to make his move against Ah Man to rectify the situation and make everything resume its original trajectory. However, the haziness in Ah Man appeared only for the briefest moment before vanishing again. Her eyes were icy cold. A hazy light appeared in her palm and an inexhaustible energy as powerful as an exploding star was unleashed at the black-robed old man. This was the power that Gu Changge had given her. It allowed her to possess invincible might in this present world. Even the strongest Elder within the Primeval Deity Sect died a tragic death at her hands. “This power does not belong to you. Who’s the person who has been helping you in secret?” The expression of the black-robed old man changed. He was no longer as arrogant as he was earlier. His cold eyes scanned the surroundings for clues. Even if Ah Man regained the memories of her past life, she would not have been able to amass such power so quickly. This meant that there was a powerful higher being who was secretly helping her. The powerful higher being had not only helped her figure out the truth but had also given her such alarming power. This ruined the black-robed old man’s plans, so naturally, he wanted nothing more than to find this being and get rid of him. “So, you can’t see Senior after all.” Ah Man deduced the situation from the black-robed old man’s expression. After all, Gu Changge was right behind her. He did not leave. Yet, ever since the black-robed old man appeared, he seemed to have been blinded somehow and could not see Gu Changge. This made Ah Man even more certain that Gu Changge’s power and origin could only be described as unfathomable. Even though Ah Man did not know what kind of plots and plans were awaiting for her in the future, the thought of Gu Changge being beside her right now made her feel impossibly calm. “Die!” Ah Man’s plush lips parted for her to let out an icy growl. Then, like a Demoness bathed in blood, she charged at the black-robed old man. “You fool! Do you really think you can break away from your fate just because you have a higher being helping you? You can’t do it. It’s impossible! You have no idea what’s in store for you!” The black-robed old man sneered and raised his large palm that covered the sun before bringing it down on Ah Man. At this moment, his aura exceeded that of a ninth-level cultivator in this world, but alas, there was no cultivator around to witness this. The Primeval Deity Sect, which had evolved into merely their battleground, could not withstand the destruction caused by such power. The world seemed to shudder as World Principles shattered and Runes were destroyed. The ripples of the aftermath were strong enough to destroy the world. Vast stretches of mountain ranges had been reduced to dust. The world had taken on a different colour as divine light surged like waves and strange signs swept through tens of thousands of kilometres of the surrounding areas. For ordinary cultivators and living beings, this was a rare phenomenon that could only be seen once every few hundred thousand years. The battle between the two rocked the world. Even the black-robed old man started feeling shocked. He could not believe it. He was even more powerful than the ninth-level cultivators of this world, but it was still extremely hard for him to go up against Ah Man. He could not defeat her. “Just who is the one helping you!?” the black-robed old man roared. A door appeared behind him. It gave off an ancient aura and showed Ah Man a vision of the Primitives’ settlement. “You’re deplorable.” Ah Man instantly realised what he was doing. She had no choice but to stop her attacks. Her gaze was icy. She sorely wanted to rip the old man apart. This was the man who she used to respect the most and treated like her Grandfather! “It’s not good to be too soft-hearted. This power does not belong to you. You can’t protect your people.” The black-robed old man was sneering smugly. After all, he was Ah Man’s Grandfather and understood her personality well. He knew how much she cared about them and would not allow them to come to harm without doing anything. “Tell me where you got your power from.” His smile faded as his expression turned cold again. “Are you sure you want to find out?” Upon hearing his words, Ah Man’s expression became one of mockery. “What do you mean by that?” The black-robed old man stiffened. He noticed Ah Man’s scorn and his heart grew heavy. He started getting a bad feeling. “Senior has been here all along. Don’t tell me you can’t see him.” Ah Man eyed the old man tauntingly. The black-robed old man’s heart grew cold. He could tell that Ah Man was not lying to him. Could it be that a terrifying being that he could not see or discern was truly hidden somewhere? “Outsider! It seems like you’re adamant on meddling in this. Are you determined to make an enemy out of me!?” The black-robed old man’s gaze turned icy as it swept across the void before him. Although he could not see Gu Changge, he was able to get a vague sense of the strange changes in this area. “I’m just helping this pitiful child because I can. As for making an enemy out of you? You’re not worthy.” Gu Changge’s voice rang out across the void before his silhouette appeared. He was dressed in a snow-white robe and looked like an otherworldly being. He looked just like a deity who descended into the Mortal Realm. “Who are you?” The black-robed old man’s gaze tensed up as his heart filled with terror. He did not know how Gu Changge managed to appear just like that. As Gu Changge stood there, it did not even seem like he truly existed. It was as if he was one with the world, fully in control of the environment. “You don’t deserve to know who I am.” Gu Changge spoke up curtly as he glanced at the old man. The black-robed old man instantly felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His entire body quivered, but he could not move. His blood and Soul seemed to have frozen. His limbs grew cold. “Senior…” Ah Man did not think that Gu Changge’s mere appearance would lead to the black-robed old man feeling so terrified that he dared not even move. “I… I have disappointed you, Senior. Even though I was given such great strength, I could not deal with this myself.” Ah Man looked sorrowful and remorseful. She could sense that she was powerful enough to best the black-robed old man in battle, and probably kill him too. However, something kept holding her back. She only used two-thirds of the power she had, and towards the end, she even succumbed to his threats and stopped her attacks. Gu Changge shook his head. He did not hold it against her. “You’ve done well. How many people can face off against someone they once considered Family and kill them? Even if they know that this person has been lying to them all along? This is what it means to be Human. To have emotions. Even though you’re destined to become a Demon, a True Demon does not need to possess the desire to exterminate all of humanity.” Ah Man froze. She knew that Gu Changge was trying to comfort her. He had never shown her such gentleness before. He was always strict and firm. She figured that he wanted to save her dignity and chose not to scold her in front of her Grandfather. “Just who are you? Why did you show up in this world and meddle in our affairs?” Ah Man’s Grandfather was deeply horrified. He was entirely immobilised. It was as if he had been frozen in his spot and sinking in quicksand. He was certain that Gu Changge was not of this world. “I told you. You don’t deserve to know.” Gu Changge glanced at him. According to the cultivation realms of the Upper Realm, Ah Man’s Grandfather was not even in the Sacred Realm. Yet, in this barren and isolated Lower Realm, he was considered the pinnacle of strength, greatly surpassing the so-called ninth-level cultivators. Gu Changge would not have even looked at this world if it had not been for Ah Man, the anomaly. After all, he could destroy hundreds of millions of such worlds with a snap of his fingers. “You can ask him about the truth you wish to uncover,” Gu Changge said to Ah Man. Now that things had come to this, Gu Changge did not want to waste any more time. For the time being, Ah Man did not achieve the level of growth that would satisfy him. However, a diamond in the rough simply needed more polishing before it could glow bright enough to cover the sky. “The truth I wish to uncover…” Ah Man looked hesitant and conflicted. Initially, she wanted to find out about everything, but after a moment of hesitation, her courage to do so waned. “What’s the matter? Are you too afraid to find out or have you lost the desire to?” Gu Changge looked at her. “I don’t know. I just feel like my head’s a mess. It’s like it’s been filled with a lot of things that I never knew about…” Ah Man shook her head. Her eyes were a little dazed. “You can decide whether you wish to find out or not. I won’t force you,” Gu Changge said. After a brief silence, Ah Man’s expression became calm again. “I think… My life has always been nothing but a lie… I don’t mean this life alone. I think it was the same… in the distant past.” Ah Man’s voice was low. Gu Changge reached out and placed his hand on her head as he said calmly, “Since you’ve chosen to accept the truth, you need to have the courage to bear it. Be it a dream or an illusion, sooner or later, it’ll be time to wake up.” Ah Man nodded. Her gaze grew steely again as she raised her eyes and looked at her terrified Grandfather who could not move. “Ah Man, even if you kill me, it won’t change anything. I’m just doing what I was told to do…” The murderous look in Ah Man’s eyes left the black-robed old man panic-stricken. He tried to struggle but he soon descended into despair. He could not move at all. His Soul had been locked in place. It was as if a terrifying power was squeezing down on a little bug. Gasp Ah Man did not let him finish speaking. She immediately stabbed her blade into his heart.