“Nothing’s impossible. The rock inside that cave is special — it resists the power of Explosive Spirit Talismans. If Indiana dodged in time and the Moonlit Sect rescued her, she wouldn’t have died.” Edmund’s voice was calm, almost casual.

  Lauren clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “I only found out when I heard the blast.” Edmund shrugged.

  Disbelief and a cold, hollow disappointment tilted at Lauren’s heart. Could it be that she really couldn’t kill Indiana? Was everything she’d done worthless?

  “Don’t get dramatic,” Edmund said. “Every time you kill her, her luck drops by a point. It’s not for nothing.”

  Lauren’s steps slowed as she moved through the crowded streets of South Sea City. Edmund went on like he was reciting a lesson. “After you’d attacked her when she was younger, do you think it would’ve made a difference?”

  Lauren thought of the things in the Sky-covering Valley — things intended for Indiana’s use but now sitting in Lauren’s hands. She pictured the last secret-realm incident and its aftershocks.

  “Yes,” she answered herself. Indiana had been badly injured then. She hadn’t reached Core Formation. She missed training in the north. Even surviving this time would leave her bedridden for a year—two maybe.

  Delay Indiana’s progress enough and the gap between them would widen. When that distance was big enough, killing her would be as easy as slaughtering a chicken.

  It wasn’t that Indiana couldn’t be killed — only that it would be harder.

  Lauren’s mouth twisted into a small, cruel smile. “If I can’t kill her in one go, I’ll kill her many times.”

  Edmund sounded indifferent. “She’s just a chess piece. Killing a chess piece doesn’t matter.”

  Lauren’s expression hardened. “Of course it matters. Don’t be dense. She’s abnormal — the virus that thing planted in the world. She’s the stumbling block that keeps beings from ascending. How can we ascend while she’s alive?”

  She had only transmigrated after reading the book that described Lauren’s death. But combining Indiana’s stat-like quirks with how those chosen reacted to her painted a worrying picture.

  A Light Spiritual Root drew others in with a sacred, alluring aura. She had the Jade Phoenix Marrow Body; as she cultivated, she produced a unique spiritual energy that could rapidly boost the cultivation of any man who slept with her. As she grew stronger, the men around her would find her harder and harder to resist.

  Timothy’s greed and jealousy had been natural in that context — killing talented rivals would be easy for someone who saw them as obstacles.

  Edmund paused, then said, “Have you thought about this: if you kill her, more dangerous people might just show up?”

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  Lauren sneered. “Then I’ll kill them too.”

  Indiana’s programming had included the annihilation of the Evercrest family. Lauren didn’t care who else the thing might send; she had to protect her family. If she couldn’t even keep them safe, how could she keep fighting fate?

  Edmund, oblivious to her racing thoughts, said calmly, “She isn’t really a person at all. She’s just a puppet placed on the natal chart. If the puppet gets damaged, they’ll pour everything into repairing it. If it can’t be repaired, then they’ll—”

  But he never finished. His face shifted, and in the next heartbeat he darted back into Lauren’s sleeve.

  The sky above, which had been bright and clear, suddenly darkened under heavy clouds.

  Through her inner vision, Lauren saw Edmund’s four claws clamped tightly onto her Immortal Roots. The sight made her want to laugh and cry all at once.

  Only when the clouds dispersed did he finally release his grip.

  “It’s enough that you know what’s going on,” Edmund muttered. “I’ll remind you when necessary, but I won’t discuss these matters with you again.”

  Lauren chuckled. “What, was that supposed to be some kind of forbidden secret? Please. They’re nothing.”

  “If a dark cloud is large enough to block out the sky,” Edmund replied, voice low, “then to mortals, that cloud becomes their sky.”

  .......

  Lauren later pulled out a map of the Cultivation Continent, tracing her finger to the location she’d agreed upon with Nash.

  Right now, she was stuck in a small town in the South Sea. No teleportation arrays reached the remote place they were supposed to meet. She’d have to fly for several days to get there.

  She had arrived too early anyway. Nash and the others weren’t there yet.

  No matter. She could wait a few days.

  Meanwhile, Immortal Herbert was furious. Someone had dared to tug the tiger’s whiskers—injuring his disciples right under his nose. As if that wasn’t insulting enough, he had slipped away afterward without leaving a trace.

  “We used the Thousand-Mile Talisman to track their aura,” he barked, “but there’s not a single trace of spiritual energy left from detonating it? Not one?”

  A disciple bowed low, clearly rattled. “No, Master. We’re at a loss as well. Detonating a fourth-grade Explosive Spirit Talisman should have required an enormous amount of spiritual energy, but there’s truly nothing left at the scene.”

  “Then they must have used some tool to erase the traces,” Herbert snapped.

  “Then why didn’t they erase the aura of those fleeing?”

  The words hung in the air. Slowly, the realization hit them all at once.

  “They left it there on purpose,” several disciples said in unison.

  Herbert’s teeth ground audibly. “That bastard didn’t escape using the Thousand-Mile Talisman at all. They set up a decoy. Go—check Shadowfen’s teleportation array. I want a full list of every man at late Foundation Establishment stage or above who’s used it in the past few days.”

  His disciples exchanged anxious looks.

  The Shadowfen auction was drawing crowds in droves. Countless cultivators had used the teleportation array recently.

  Investigating would mean turning over a mountain of names—and offending more than a few people with power.

  ......

  South Sea.

  Lauren strolled along the beach, staring at the endless horizon where sea and sky met. She let out a quiet sigh. “I wonder if there really is somewhere beyond the South Sea. The maps of the Cultivation Continent only stretch to this shoreline.”

  Edmund’s voice came from her sleeve. When no one else was around, he always popped out without restraint. “Didn’t you dig into this already? And you still can’t find anything?”

  Lauren nodded. “The Overseas Scriptures record that past the South Sea lies a blue-black river, and between them flows Weak Water. The source of Weak Water is a tree called the Weak Tree. But when I asked around here, people say there’s some kind of barrier on the sea. No one can cross to the other side.”

  Edmund narrowed his eyes. “If no one can reach the other side, then where did those records come from?”

  Lauren was silent for a beat before muttering, “Of course someone’s crossed it. The question is—how? You’re a dragon. You should know more about the sea than I do. What exactly is it?”

  “Boundary Force,” Edmund said simply.