Chapter 4304: Will You Let Me Go?
"My name is Hua Xian," the woman said softly, her voice rising lightly in the ornate hall.
"I am a cultivator at Chaos Realm Great Completion, and I greet the Domain Lord of this place…"
Her voice, like her face, was tailored to each listener's subconscious desire. Whatever tone, timbre, or pitch one wished to hear, they would hear. For everyone, it was different.
It carried the same deadly allure as her face and fragrance, forming a complete sensory assault sight, sound, and scent combined to steal one's Dao Heart.
Even an Eternal Being could falter before it, should their Dao Heart be unstable.
But for Lin Moyu, it was nothing beyond "pleasant to smell, nice to look at, and pleasing to hear."
Still, the thought struck him suddenly: those little flower tending creatures in the castle… were they once cultivators, seduced by this Hua Xian and transformed into plant slaves?
That could be asked later. For now, he listened to her story.
He would not believe everything but he had his own way of weighing truth and falsehood.
Hua Xian's tale was this:
Long ago, she'd been commanded to join a host of Chaos Realm cultivators in an assault against a mysterious land. They hadn't even known what that land truly was they were simply ordered to fight.
Over a thousand Chaos Beings had been sent. Among them were dozens of Chaos Realm Perfection cultivators, hundreds of Great Completion experts like herself, and still more of Lesser Completion.
They struck hard and entered the mysterious land quickly. But soon, fierce resistance came upon them.
They were slaughtered. The defenders were many Chaos Realm Perfection powerhouses. Almost all of Hua Xian's peers perished; only a few survived to flee.
Her fortune was that she escaped, heavily wounded but not dead. This castle itself, a high grade Chaos Realm treasure, became her refuge. It allowed her to slip out, but like a parasite it clung to the Five Domain World, embedding itself here.
When she finished her tale, Lin Moyu asked:
"Then why not leave? Why remain here instead of returning to the chaos outside?"
Her eyes darkened, voice drifting, tinged with grievance.
"You think I want to stay? I cannot leave. When I escaped into this domain, all my strength was spent I don't know how long I slept.
Over the years, I drew on the domain's power, quietly sustaining myself… only to realize my castle had fused with the domain. Now, even if I wished, I cannot part from it."
Lin Moyu was silent. Astonishing even a Chaos treasure could be forcefully bonded this way.
From her words, he understood: the "mysterious land" she and her peers had attacked was none other than the Heavenly Void Land (天虚之地).
They'd been pawns, sent by some Supreme to probe it not knowing the Void Land itself was guarded by two Supremes. They had been nothing but cannon fodder.
Who could say what schemes lay between Supremes?
Lin Moyu asked next, "In all these years, how many came into your castle?"
"Quite a few," Hua Xian sighed. "I did not count. But they are all here still. Those flower slaves you saw they were intruders once."
This confirmed Lin Moyu's suspicion.
"They entered of their own will," she said softly, "and my flowers bewitched them. They drowned in fragrance and beauty, until they themselves became flowers. Slaves of blossoms."
"You did nothing yourself?" Lin Moyu pressed.
She smiled faintly. "I didn't need to. My flowers act on their own."
That matched what he had observed. Even injured, a Chaos Great Completion cultivator would never need to dirty their hands against Dao Lords. Flowers alone sufficed as executioners.
Lin Moyu then asked, "Some years ago, someone entered here but did not step into your castle. He took away a black blue dagger and a shadowed robe. You know of this?"
"You mean that youngster?" she asked. "I was awake then, of course I know. His Dao Heart was strong, and he was careful. He sensed the castle was dangerous so he never entered."
She explained further:
"When I fled the battle, my castle pulled away a fragment of space with it a piece of battlefield, carrying remnants of my companions and their treasures.
"That dagger and robe belonged to Ink Hidden Daoist (墨隐), a fellow Chaos Great Completion cultivator. Sadly, he too perished."
Lin Moyu frowned.
"No he didn't."
She blinked, startled. "Impossible. I saw him fall with my own eyes."
"He did not die," Lin Moyu replied firmly. "Then the one slain must have been only his avatar."
Hua Xian stared, disbelief plain. "If he had lived, why would his treasures remain?"
Lin Moyu said no more. There was no point to argue. He had branded Ink Hidden's soul with the Causality Seeking Ring's Effect Without Cause ability. The ring did not err this meant the man was still alive.
The fact that remnants of Ink Hidden's soul were hidden in those treasures only proved it. It had lain in wait for years, and even attempted to kill Little Mist, setting itself as his absolute enemy.
When the chance came, Lin Moyu would kill Ink Hidden, body, soul, and spirit.
He now also realized the Lord of Slaughter's "find" had not been luck.
Those two treasures had chosen him, escaping the independent space through his hands and re entering the Five Domain World.
A chilling thought swept him: If Ink Hidden still lived, might he already know something of this world? Could he even sense its location?
If he came hunting…
Whether Great Completion or Perfection, Lin Moyu knew he could not yet stand against him.
Other outsiders might show restraint, wary that Lin Moyu was a genius who could one day become a Supreme.
But not this Ink Hidden. He would not hesitate if Great Completion, he would seek to occupy the Five Domain World. If Perfection, he would seek to devour its strength.
That left Lin Moyu only one best option: leave with his domain, avoiding the clash until he was stronger.
But he would not let his home be treated as prey so easily.
"Dao friend Hua Xian," he said finally, "thank you for sharing all this. Now is there anything you need of me?"
She lowered her lashes, voice soft.
"Domain Lord Lin… you have yet to reach the chaos, but you will. When that day comes, and you are able… will you let me go free?"
Lin Moyu nodded without hesitation.
"Agreed."
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