Zhang Wen stood slightly above the ground, his white robe swaying gently without direction. The eyes beneath the black mask silently fixed on Mu Ling's body before he slowly raised his hand and pointed toward her.
In a fraction of a second, some unseen power flowed through Mu Ling like a current being drawn back to its origin. Her cultivation, which had once reached Half Emperor, began to collapse rapidly, like a mountain crumbling before one's eyes. The aura that had once been magnificent gradually dissipated until nothing remained.
Only the body of an ordinary person was left. No power. No cultivation.
But Mu Ling's gaze remained empty. She showed no shock. She did not resist, as if her mind had already died long before this moment. Her body could not move as she wished. Only her consciousness remained, bearing the guilt she could never undo.
Scenes from the past slowly surfaced in her thoughts.
That day
The day she agreed to Ye Chen's plan to seize heaven Sword City.
If she had chosen to refuse that day, would everything have changed
The four elders would not have died. She would not have been controlled into becoming a killing machine. The Sword Mountain Sect would not have disappeared.
Those thoughts circled again and again like blades slowly cutting into her mind.
But then she paused. The three ancestors of the Sword Mountain Sect did not seem to have been at the sect at this time.
Yet another thought quickly formed. Even if all three had been present, they still would not have been able to change the outcome and might have met an end no different from the Sect Leader.
At that moment, Zhang Wen's calm voice sounded.
"It is exactly as you think. Even if all three were still alive, they would still die here."
He paused slightly before continuing.
"But unfortunately, I already killed them all, and they were the main reason I had to wipe out the Sword Mountain Sect."
Mu Ling's eyes widened slightly. The stillness she once had began to tremble.
"You… can hear what I am thinking…"
Zhang Wen fell silent for a moment before replying calmly.
"Of course."
Suddenly, certain memories were directly transmitted into her consciousness by Zhang Wen.
The scene of the three ancestors coming to find her before the battle began and ended with Zhang Wen killing all three appeared clearly. There was no alteration. No distortion whatsoever.
Mu Ling watched every image in silence before speaking in a faint voice.
"It was because of me… it was because of me… all of this is my fault… I am sorry…"
Amid Mu Ling's crying, Zhang Wen opened a record book and read calmly. Inside were the records of every member of the Sword Mountain Sect, containing their various background details. All of this information had been recorded by the sect itself.
Suddenly, the system's voice sounded within his consciousness.
[Host, what will you do with her next?]
Zhang Wen continued reading the record calmly before speaking.
"She cannot die yet… because she will still be useful in the future."
The system's voice sounded again.
[You look very frightening right now.]
Zhang Wen fell silent for a moment before answering with a soft chuckle.
"To be honest, I have grown a lot compared to the past. I learned through many mistakes to become who I am today."
He slowly turned a page. The faint sound of paper brushing against paper was clear within the silence.
"If it were the old me, I would have already gone to wipe out the families of every member within the Sword Mountain Sect."
Those words carried no anger and no coldness, yet they made the surrounding atmosphere grow strangely colder.
The system fell silent for a moment as if processing, before its awareness shifted toward the record book in Zhang Wen's hand.
It was a record containing the complete detailed information of all disciples, elders, and members of the Sword Mountain Sect that Zhang Wen had taken from the sect. Inside were their appearances, names, backgrounds, families, places of origin, relationship networks. Everything was recorded in such detail that it felt as if one could clearly see the life path of every individual.
The system remained quiet for a moment before speaking.
[So now… you are not going to do it anymore, right?]
Zhang Wen did not answer. He simply remained silent and continued turning the pages steadily.
At that moment Mu Ling's voice sounded again, filled with hatred to the point it seemed ready to shatter.
"Kill me… if you do not kill me now… in the future I will definitely be the one to kill you…"
Her eyes were bloodshot. The tiny veins bulged visibly. Her words were filled with unwavering determination.
Zhang Wen continued reading before speaking.
"I am sorry… but all of your hopes will never become reality for the rest of your life."
Mu Ling froze as if struck by something.
"Your cultivation now depends on my thoughts. You can be a powerful Half Emperor or just an ordinary person without even the strength to stand. All of this depends on my thoughts."
"Most importantly, Half Emperor Level 9 is already the highest point you can ever reach, and you will never go any higher… without my help."
Her eyes trembled slightly as if beginning to realize something she did not want to believe.
Zhang Wen continued calmly.
"The droplet you consumed has severe consequences."
His voice was steady, as if explaining something ordinary.
"After consuming it, your cultivation will never be able to advance for the rest of your life."
Mu Ling's heart seemed to stop for a moment.
"And your power… I can extract it at any time and give it to anyone."
Her eyes widened. Her body trembled slightly as if losing the most important thing she had.
"You… you…"
Her voice trembled until it was barely words. She clenched her teeth so tightly that faint cracks formed.
Zhang Wen turned to look at her for a moment before speaking.
"What I want now is to forge the sharpest blade, one that will cut down everything I command."
"You should understand at the same cultivation level. A Sacred Body almost stands above all other body types, and that is the reason you are still alive right now, because you possess a Sacred Body, the Nine Colored Lotus."
He paused slightly before speaking the final sentence with indifference.
"So you must continue living, at least until I find a way to completely extract the origin of your Sacred Body."
Those words fell into the silence. Mu Ling's entire body broke out in goosebumps. Her soul trembled as the sound of the record book Zhang Wen had been reading closed.
At the same time, numerous water clones separated from his body like droplets dispersing into mist before transforming into many men and women, then silently rushing into small spatial cracks.
Everything happened in perfect order, like a machine operating flawlessly.
Mu Ling stared at the appearance of those clones with guilt, because they looked almost identical to members of the Sword Mountain Sect before her voice sounded.
"You… what are you going to do…"
Zhang Wen ignored her. He had already sown certain seeds before taking out the Heaven Splitting Umbrella and raising it slightly.
The black fabric slowly unfolded. A mysterious power spread from within like a bottomless abyss. The space inside the umbrella twisted like another universe without boundaries and without laws.
"We will meet again."
Suddenly, a massive suction force burst forth. Mu Ling's body was instantly pulled into the umbrella.
Inside the world of the Heaven Splitting Umbrella, everything existed under Zhang Wen's will. Laws, time, and space were controlled by a single thought. In this place, he was no different from a god who could determine everything as he wished.
And it was not only Mu Ling. Ye Chen, Ye Xin, Huang Ran, Long Suyao were all inside, all in a state of slumber. Their bodies were like ordinary people cut off from all power. They could not use power. They could not resist. They could not escape.
They could only wait.
Wait for the day Zhang Wen would choose to use them.
The umbrella slowly closed in silence. All power vanished as if it had never existed.
Zhang Wen stood in the air once again, as if nothing had happened. His white robe remained calm. His gaze was so deep it could not be fathomed, like an ocean no one knew what lay beneath.
And in that silence, even the system did not speak again, as if it were looking at its host with a feeling even it could not explain.