Chapter 176: Deceptions Within the Plan—What You See Is Not Always the Truth

Aotian’s eyes were filled with fear. The pain came from his right side—his right arm had been cleanly severed from his shoulder. That sound earlier was the sound of his entire arm hitting the ground. Everything happened so suddenly that Aotian was caught off guard and lost his arm without even realizing it. It was already too late. Blood stained Aotian’s clothes, and the pain forced him to emit the most agonized cries.

With Aotian’s skills, he shouldn’t have been defeated so quickly. But Liu Yi used all his strength and didn’t give Aotian a chance to strike again. Liu Yi slowly stepped forward and said coldly, “Do you have anything else to say?”

Aotian quickly blocked the acupoints on his right side with his left hand and pressed on his shoulder to stop the bleeding. Then, struggling to stand, he said, “The victor takes all—kill me if you want.”

Liu Yi burst into laughter before suddenly stopping and spitting, “Tch… You’re already a loser. Why act like a hero? Fine, today I’ll make sure you die properly.”

“Thirty years ago, you had sinister ambitions and framed Wei Lingfeng to seize the position in the Demon Sect, forcing him to die a tragic death on Yuecang Mountain. Thirty years later, thousands of people in the Liu family died because of your Demon Sect. And now, you vile wretch, in order to get the ‘Lanelfina Qing’ cultivation method, even used your own daughter. Why should such a great villain still stay in this world?” Liu Yi grew angrier as he spoke, his eyes flashing red again. His hatred reached its peak—this man had hurt him more than once.

Hearing this, Aotian suddenly laughed and replied, “This is the martial world. It’s just like this. If you can’t adapt, it’s better to leave.”

Liu Yi looked at Aotian coldly and said, “I’ve never entered nor left. I just do what I have to do. I won’t kill you because you’re already useless. But… I’ll turn you into an ordinary person completely.” With that, he pointed his right hand straight at Aotian’s dantian. As a white light spread out, Aotian collapsed weakly…

Aotian looked at Liu Yi with a resentful expression and asked, “Why didn’t you kill me?”

Liu Yi smiled coldly and said, “Do you think I don’t want to kill you? I’d rather torture you piece by piece. But Qi Yue is your daughter. I already owe her too much. Today, I’ll leave you a broken life.”

After that, Liu Yi didn’t look back again. He rode his sword into the sky…

Watching Liu Yi fly away, Aotian burst into wild laughter before shouting loudly, “Why? Why?”

At that moment, a voice came from behind a tree, “The reason is simple—fate has destined you to be a loser.”

Aotian turned sharply and shouted, “Who?”

A youth dressed in dark blue appeared before Aotian. Aotian was shocked—the person before him was the Emperor of Tianji Xinggong, Lan Ying. He was smiling at Aotian. Aotian asked, “How did you end up here?”
Lan Ying slowly extended his right hand, and a purplish-black bead emitting a faint glow appeared before Aotian—it was the ‘Chapter of Heaven’. Aotian stared at the man and then at the ‘Chapter of Heaven’, laughing wildly, his laughter mixed with despair…
Lan Ying put away the ‘Chapter of Heaven’. With a slight lift of his right hand, a broad-bladed sword appeared in his hand. With a sinister smile, Lan Ying said, “Since you’re now useless, living in this world must be painful for you. So, I’ll help you end it.”
Aotian seemed to sense something wrong and stepped back, asking, “What do you want to do?”
Lan Ying still smiled and said, “I want you to die.” As soon as those words left his mouth, the sword swiftly left a wound on Aotian’s throat. Then came a thud—the sound of someone falling to the ground. As Lan Ying sheathed his sword, Aotian’s body was gradually buried by fallen leaves. Thus ended the life of a great hero.
A satisfied smile appeared on Lan Ying’s face. With his steps, he headed back toward Fengdu Ghost City…
Along the way, Liu Yi seemed troubled, though he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Yet he knew exactly what to do. Wei Feng, the protector of the Demon Sect, was a despicable man. But Liu Yi wouldn’t let him die easily—he wanted revenge. As ‘Sorrowful Dream’ flew swiftly, Liu Yi returned to the Wolf King’s side.
The Wolf King looked at Liu Yi, who had landed, and asked, “Lord Demon, how did it go?”
Liu Yi replied, “I severed Aotian’s arm and disabled his martial skills. I didn’t kill him.”
Hearing Liu Yi’s words, the Wolf King seemed to find it cruel. But compared to the suffering Liu Yi had endured, it was nothing. The Wolf King nodded and asked, “So… where’s the ‘Chapter of Heaven’?”
Liu Yi answered, “The ‘Chapter of Heaven’ is missing. It flew into the woods.”
The Wolf King nodded but didn’t respond. Instead, he asked another question, “The fighting here is fierce. Both the righteous and the demonic forces are severely weakened. This is a good opportunity for us to act.”
Liu Yi nodded and carefully observed the battlefield. Indeed, as the Wolf King said, the casualties were much heavier now than before. Blood pooled on the ground like small rivers, and there were many corpses. Only a few elite warriors from both sides remained, all heavily injured.
Just then, a black figure flashed into Liu Yi’s sight. It was none other than Wei Feng, the protector of the Demon Sect. The destruction of his family, the separation between heaven and earth—everything was orchestrated by this villain. Now, he seemed injured too, but he was still holding on.

Everything reappeared before Liu Yi’s eyes—those were the nights 25 years ago, when the wind carried sorrow and rain fell from the sky. Over a thousand people perished in just one night. That once warm home was shattered in that rainy night. That night, he held Jillier in his arms, but… it was her corpse. It was all done by this madman.

Liu Yi’s eyes turned red. His deep hatred made him stop thinking about anything else. He had only one action in mind: draw his sword and make this enemy pay dearly.

A blurred figure, accompanied by the wind, instantly entered the battlefield—it was Liu Yi. The Wolf King and the White Tiger exchanged glances before also drawing their weapons and charging in. Now was the chance to act. Both the righteous and the demonic forces were already battered beyond recognition; with just a little more effort, they could end it.

Liu Yi rushed into the battlefield. Under the automatic activation of the powerful true energy from “Lanerfina Qing,” his body emitted a blood-red glow. His hatred turned his eyes blood-red, and the surrounding whirlwinds lifted his white hair. With several swings of his long sword, Liu Yi had already reached the madman…

At that moment, the madman also noticed this strange man who suddenly appeared before him. He steadied himself and took a quick glance, quickly realizing that this person seemed familiar—as if he had seen him somewhere before. Just then, the person across from him let out a loud scream, and blood-red clouds rolled in. Those blood-red eyes slowly turned toward him, as if coming from hell, as if the death god was calling to him.

After all, the madman was a guardian-level figure. Though his opponent was terrifying, he wouldn’t give up. Swinging his long sword, in an instant, driven by his powerful true energy, he launched sixteen sword strikes at Liu Yi. Sixteen beams of light struck Liu Yi from different directions and angles. Then came the sound of weapons clashing, followed by the sword being sheathed.

Although the madman couldn’t see clearly, he understood in his heart that the opponent had attacked, and at several times his own speed, blocking all sixteen strikes. This showed how highly skilled his opponent was—far above him. The madman was a shrewd old fox; obviously, in such an unequal situation, he wouldn’t sacrifice himself needlessly. He quickly prepared to flee at top speed.

But it was all too late. It seemed his thinking couldn’t keep up with the opponent’s actions. Once again, a terrifying scream came from the opponent’s mouth, followed by a hard hand suddenly gripping his neck. In that instant, the madman felt the opponent’s powerful true energy instantly binding his entire body. The hand lifted him high, as if he was about to die from suffocation…

As he was lifted, a shadow flashed before his eyes, and then he heard the sound of wind—created by his own speed rubbing against the air. The madman understood that the opponent was carrying him away from the battlefield at great speed.

With a “bang,” he collided with the wall at unimaginable speed. The madman felt his entire body about to break apart. At that moment, his throat was squeezed even tighter, and the feeling of suffocation drove him mad. His survival instinct made his hands flail wildly.

Immediately after, Liu Yi relaxed his grip, and Wei Feng collapsed softly to the ground. In this dark corner, Wei Feng took deep breaths, seemingly trying to recover from the suffocating feeling earlier. Perhaps this was the first time in his life he had suffered such humiliation—being subdued in just one move by someone whose cultivation was so high that it made Wei Feng worry for his own life.

Liu Yi looked down at the person leaning against the wall and asked coldly, word by word, “Do you still remember me?”

Under the dim silver moonlight, Wei Feng could only vaguely make out the silhouette of the person across from him. But he quickly realized he recognized this person—and not just once. The young master Liu Fu from ten years ago, the master of the Demon Realm ten years later, and now, a figure as fierce as a killing god.

Wei Feng blurted out, “It’s you.”

Liu Yi looked at Wei Feng and sneered coldly, “It’s me. Didn’t expect that, did you?”

Wei Feng tried hard to recall, trying to refute what the person in front of him said. He clearly remembered that ten years ago, a flying sword had pierced his heart—he should have died. But for some reason, he had become the master of the Demon Realm again. Yet hadn’t Ao Tian disabled his martial arts skills? And he had lost his memories. Why was he appearing before him now?

Wei Feng shook his head in disbelief, panicking, “No, this isn’t true. Who are you?”

Liu Yi said coldly, “It’s true. Everything is true. Everything I have was given by you. You killed my family. You took Jili’er away from me. And it was because of you that I fell down the path of darkness. Everything… is your fault…” The more Liu Yi spoke, the more agitated he became. He suddenly drew his long sword, its cold light illuminating the space between them. With a scream, the sword was sheathed again, and a hand fell to the ground the moment the light disappeared.

As that hand was severed, Wei Feng let out a pig-like scream. The pain caused beads of sweat the size of beans to appear on his face instantly. He pressed his left hand tightly against his arm, now without a hand, as his body shrunk backward. But there was a wall behind him—no place left to hide. His eyes were filled with fear, as the anger of the person before him seemed to herald his death.

Liu Yi sneered coldly, crouched down, and asked, “Does it hurt?”

By now, Wei Feng could no longer stay calm. Hearing Liu Yi’s words, he could only keep nodding. That was all he could do. He could no longer think. The murderous aura and smell of blood left him with only one thought: to get away from here alive.

Liu Yi looked at the person in front of him and stood up again. Good. His reaction filled Liu Yi with a sense of revenge. Looking at Wei Feng, Liu Yi continued coldly, “I won’t let you die so easily. I’ll slice your flesh piece by piece, letting you experience what human suffering is like. I heard… if the sword is fast enough to cut through your chest, you won’t die right away.”

Liu Yi’s words completely shattered Wei Feng’s sanity. In his eyes, the person before him was nothing but a demon. Hearing what Liu Yi said, cold sweat soaked his entire body…

Suddenly, Liu Yi’s tone turned fierce as he snapped, “You know fear now? You know pain too? What did your heart feel like when you killed so many people ten years ago? Today, I’m going to dig out your heart to see if it’s red or black.” Unaware of it, hatred had made Liu Yi cruel and violent.

Just as Liu Yi finished speaking, Wei Feng shook his head violently and said, “No, no, listen to me. Those things were all ordered to me by someone else; that person forced me to do it. I had no choice.”

As Liu Yi was about to pull out Wei Feng’s heart, a remark from Wei Feng shocked him. Looking at Wei Feng’s pleading eyes, which didn’t seem like lies, Liu Yi angrily demanded, “Who? Tell me who else in the world could threaten the protector of the Demon Sect to kill an ordinary family. Prove it’s true—give me a reason to believe you.” A red glow flashed in Liu Yi’s eyes again. He only believed a fraction of Wei Feng’s words; if he lied once more, Liu Yi would cut off his other hand.

Wei Feng shook his head fiercely and said, “It’s true. I don’t know what that person looks like, but his sword was extremely thin and fast—seemingly even faster than yours. He found me and threatened to kill me if I didn’t kill your whole family and Jili. I was also under his orders.”

Listening to Wei Feng’s words, Liu Yi searched his memory carefully. He couldn’t recall anyone holding such a deep grudge against him. Besides, it had been ten years ago—who could it be? Liu Yi once again cast his blood-red gaze at Wei Feng’s face, which looked even more terrifying in the dark corner.

Seeing Liu Yi’s gaze, Wei Feng suddenly added, “Oh, right. That person likes to wear white clothes. Every time we met, he was dressed in white. It was white, and his body was as ethereal as a shadow—almost not human at all.”

Liu Yi fell into deep thought again. Could there really be another culprit…

While he was pondering, a white blade shot down from above at blinding speed—too fast to track with the naked eye. Liu Yi instinctively dodged to the side, but soon realized he was wrong. The white blade wasn’t aimed at him. With a “thud,” Wei Feng’s head fell off, rolling twice before stopping. In his wide, unblinking eyes, fear and disbelief could be seen.

Liu Yi determined the direction and rushed over instantly. But when he arrived, all he heard was the sound of the wind—no sign of anyone else. Liu Yi muttered to himself, “What incredible speed! Who could it be?” Although Wei Feng died so easily, Liu Yi had made a new discovery: someone wanted to stop Wei Feng from speaking and killed him to silence him. That meant everything Wei Feng had said earlier was true—the person behind him was the real murderer.

A simple question always seems to have complex answers behind it. At this moment, Liu Yi was recalling Wei Feng’s description before his death—the man in white, whose swordsmanship was extremely fast and elusive, almost not human. So… who exactly was he? For a moment, Liu Yi felt as if he were trapped in a conspiracy meant to be his fate, and it was because of this conspiracy that he had joined the martial world and regained memories of his past three lives. It seemed… everything was already predetermined.

Liu Yi fell to the ground, looking at Wei Feng’s corpse. With a strong kick from his right foot, he sent the headless body flying away, shouting angrily, “Useless thing, just dying like this.” Then, Liu Yi turned and rushed quickly back into the battlefield.

Everything was happening, and what happened became history, unchangeable. As Liu Yi returned to the battlefield, four people emerged from the dark corner on the left—no, actually two, two ghosts.

Under the moonlight, it was clear that the one in front was Su Shao, controlled by the Nine Nether Demon God, while the one behind was a woman, held by the two leaders of the ghost race, the Guardian and the Reaper. Upon closer inspection under the moonlight, she turned out to be Jillian. Su Shao turned to look at Jillian and said, “It’s better to arrive at the right time than early. Well, you saw it just now, right? The one who ordered Wei Feng to kill Liu Yi’s family and you was the Demon Lord of the demon realm. Now, in order to unify the world, he wants to kill many more people. I think he won’t spare your scholar either; it seems he’s very interested in you.”

Jillian said in disbelief, “Why would he want to hurt us?”

The Nine Nether Demon God shook his head and said, “I don’t know that. But I think he’ll attack your scholar soon. Perhaps he wants to get you?”

Hearing the Nine Nether Demon God’s words, Jillian seemed deep in thought. Was this devil really the one who killed the scholar’s family? Would he really harm the scholar? She couldn’t help but recall their brief encounter by the sea a few days ago…

Some things are simple, but misunderstandings can arise from incomplete observations. In this world, you must remind yourself that what you see isn’t necessarily what happened, and what happened isn’t necessarily true. Everything has a possible explanation, and often, irreparable misunderstandings stem from the lack of that chance to explain…