Chapter 407: How to Settle This Account

“Su Che!”
This call sounded extremely familiar.
Back then, Fei Yun knew full well that Su Che had become the top disciple of Tianxuan Sect, yet she refused to call him “eldest brother” and insisted on addressing him as “Su Che.”
That’s right—exactly that tone, exactly that feeling.

“Fei Yun?”
Su Che asked tentatively.

“It’s me.”
The same face, the same clothes, the same person—but her expression, tone, and demeanor were completely different.
It was the gentle and obedient Fei Yun he had known before.

“What about Lan Ling?”
Su Che still couldn’t be 100% sure. Who could guarantee this wasn’t some trick by Lan Ling?

“She’s gone,” Fei Yun replied softly. “Most of her immortal soul has been consumed. She can no longer suppress my soul, so I drove her out of her body. If her damaged immortal soul doesn’t return to the immortal realm in time, it will completely dissipate in this cultivation world within fifteen minutes.”
From the way she said this, Su Che was certain it was really Fei Yun—definitely not Lan Ling pretending. He quickly asked, “Fei Yun, what’s going on? How did you become Lan Ling’s avatar in the mortal world?”

Fei Yun hesitated for a moment before recounting everything from start to finish.
Back then, she and Zhen Zhen were captured by the Dream Lulu Witch and trapped in the Illusion Demon Sect for over a year. During that time, their freedom wasn’t completely restricted; they could move within a certain area.
While practicing cultivation, Fei Yun spent her time in a library in the Illusion Demon Sect to pass the time and calm her mind.
By chance, she came across a biography about Lan Ling, the sect’s renowned founder. She then learned that she and Lan Ling were born on the same day and at the same hour of the year, with almost identical birth dates, elemental attributes, and innate constitutions.
The only difference between them was that she was born over 20,000 years earlier; otherwise, they were practically the same person.
This wasn’t an impossible coincidence, as in a lifespan spanning tens of thousands of years, there would inevitably be many people who resembled one another in many ways. It’s just that one might not encounter them in person during their lifetime.
For this reason, Fei Yun naturally became extremely curious about the name “Lan Ling.” Since she had nothing to do, she tried various ways to find out more about her.

It was then that she learned that among the sect missions of the Illusion Demon Sect, there was a mission of the highest reward level: to find someone with exactly the same birth date, five elements, and innate physique as Master Lan Ling. But this extremely difficult task had gone uncompleted for thousands of years, meaning it was incredibly hard to find someone like Fei Yun. Of course, Fei Yun wouldn’t foolishly reveal herself, so she quietly gathered information related to it and discovered that her qualities could be transformed to create a mortal avatar of Master Lan Ling, allowing the master to possess her body temporarily using a fragment of his immortal soul. It was indeed temporary use, and it wouldn’t harm the host, as this was an authentic immortal technique, not some evil art meant solely for self-interest. To become Lan Ling’s avatar, one had to go through processes of immortality soul and immortal essence entering the body. The immortal soul wasn’t a problem, but once Fei Yun’s body was transformed and strengthened by the immortal essence, it would bring endless benefits. Once Lan Ling’s immortal soul returned to the immortal realm and no longer needed her avatar, her cultivation progress would advance by leaps and bounds during that time… In short, there were countless advantages—depending on whether one believed it or not. Initially, Fei Yun also held a skeptical attitude and wouldn’t risk her life and future so easily. She kept this secret to herself and never told anyone. Later, seeing Su Che’s progress accelerate and the gap between them widen, she realized that under normal circumstances, she would never be able to catch up with him. Fei Yun was also aware that due to the emotional bond, she had severe mental demons. She couldn’t remain calm and rational when faced with anything related to Su Che; her thoughts often became extreme. Eventually, unable to bear this mental torment, she preferred to face the mistakes of making a choice, to be deceived and become a puppet, rather than see herself become increasingly humble and insignificant in Su Che’s eyes. This feeling was unbearably cruel for her—worse than death. “I only wish he could have me in his heart, even for just a short moment!” With such extreme thoughts, Fei Yun made up her mind. She rejected Su Che’s offers of favorable treatment at the Tianxuan Sect and returned to the Illusion Demon Sect, openly admitting her innate qualities as the perfect candidate to be Master Lan Ling’s mortal avatar.

This is betting one’s life—if the bet goes wrong, everything is lost; if it succeeds, not only reaching the Golden Core stage but even ascending to the Yuan Ying realm will be effortless. Because this body once carried the immortal essence unique to the immortal realm, it has fundamentally changed, and its physical condition has surpassed that of ordinary humans, reaching the standard of a semi-immortal body.

With a semi-immortal body, practicing ordinary cultivation techniques will be effortless and highly efficient, with almost no insurmountable barriers in terms of realm progression. No one can guarantee whether one can ultimately become an immortal, but ascending to the Spirit Realm is absolutely certain.

After a series of extremely complex procedures, she eventually became Lan Ling’s mortal avatar. Fortunately, it was determined that she would not turn into a thoughtless puppet—only after Lan Ling descended his immortal soul would her own soul be suppressed deep within her mind, forced to do things against her will.

Once Lan Ling finished his affairs in the cultivation world and his immortal soul returned to the immortal realm, Fei Yun could regain her freedom and even attain a supreme status akin to a guardian deity of the Illusion Demon Sect, to be worshipped by her followers until Lan Ling’s immortal soul reentered her body again.

It could be said that without Su Che’s interference, the path Fei Yun chose would have been extremely advantageous for her. Even after ascending to the Spirit Realm, she could maintain her identity as Lan Ling’s avatar. On average, she would only be possessed for a few days every ten years, allowing her most of the time to remain free and enjoy the endless benefits of the immortal essence…

But today, Lan Ling intended to kill Su Che mercilessly. How could Fei Yun, who loved Su Che deeply, agree to this? No matter how beautiful the future might be, she would abandon it without hesitation to ensure Su Che’s safety.

Fei Yun wasn’t foolish either. At first, she didn’t rush to show her stance but hid deep in her mind, enduring patiently, waiting for the perfect moment to emerge and fight Lan Ling for control of this body.

When Lan Ling, in order to capture Su Che alive, burned his immortal soul to create a cultivation domain—even if he gave up halfway—most of his immortal soul had been consumed, weakening his control over this body by more than half.

It wasn’t until Lan Ling grew murderous intent and prepared to unleash his final attack on Su Che that Fei Yun’s soul power suddenly erupted, delivering a devastating ambush to Lan Ling’s remaining soul.

“This is my body! You dare use it to murder my lover—get out of here!”

It was unclear whether it was the immense power of affection or the unpredictable force of love, or perhaps Lan Ling’s remaining soul simply lacked strength—anyway, Fei Yun managed to drive her out quite effortlessly.
That was roughly how it happened. However, when Fei Yun recounted these events to Su Che, she couldn’t analyze her own emotions and thoughts so openly; she could only mention them indirectly…
“I see!”
Su Che shook his head with a bitter smile. “Your choice almost cost me my life, but in the end, you saved me. How should I account for this?”
Fei Yun’s face turned red as she nodded sheepishly.
Indeed, if she hadn’t willingly joined the Illusion Demon Sect, Su Che wouldn’t have encountered Lan Ling’s clone today and nearly lost his life.
Of course, this wasn’t Su Che’s true feelings—it was just a joke to ease his mind after surviving such a great disaster. Anyway, the fault couldn’t be blamed on Fei Yun.
She had the right to make her own choices, especially for her own sake…
After the joke, Su Che asked again, “Since you drove Lan Ling’s remaining soul out of her body, why can you still use the Great Instant Transmission Technique?”
Fei Yun replied softly, “Although her remaining soul was driven away, the power of the immortal essence in her body was hardly diminished. By using this power, along with the spiritual imprints of those great techniques left in her mind, I can use those techniques to some extent.”
“I understand.”
Su Che nodded. “So, being able to become her clone has indeed benefited you greatly.”
Lan Ling’s immortal soul temporarily used Fei Yun’s body. After possessing her body, it still had to rely on Fei Yun’s brain to think. Even after leaving, it would leave behind numerous mental imprints. By absorbing these imprints, Fei Yun essentially copied an understanding of the essence of those great techniques. The benefits of this were beyond description.
Thinking of this, Su Che couldn’t help but feel sorry for Fei Yun and said, “I’m sorry. Because of me, you missed such a great opportunity.”
“It’s okay. I don’t regret it at all, not even a little.”
Fei Yun said seriously, “I have an intuition that things aren’t as simple as they seem. Sooner or later, I’ll have to pay a heavy price for this. Who knows, maybe one day she’ll erase my soul and turn me into a true clone. Right now, her true body is in the Immortal Realm, while I’m in the Cultivation Realm. She still needs me to grow, so it’s not the right time for her to take action…”

Su Che nodded silently, thinking it was indeed possible. Just like raising pigs, they are fed well at first, and once they are plump, it’s time to slaughter them.
After that, Fei Yun said playfully, “Besides, I just saved your life. For me, that’s the greatest reward!”
“But you almost killed me too,” Su Che said, somewhat dazed, as if deliberately being stubborn.
“That was Lan Ling, not me,” Fei Yun laughed. “Remember, I saved your life—today, just now!”