Chapter 73: Unspoken Troubles

A glimmer of hope appeared in Tu Lu’s eyes.

But just as he charged halfway forward, the Grand Ark suddenly let out a sharp crack.

No!

Tu Lu’s heart sank.

The Grand Ark had already suffered severe damage during the battle at Divine Wind City. Afterwards, it had endured another spatial teleportation, squeezed by the power of space, and now, at last, it had reached its limit.

Misfortunes never come singly!

At that very moment, a massive arm once again reached out from the side.

With a thunderous crash, the Grand Ark finally collapsed under the mounting pressure and shattered into pieces.

Despair filled Tu Lu’s eyes.

“Obliterate!”

At that instant, Ziling shouted loudly.

“Sever, Break, Destroy—Three Thousand Sword Arts!”

An unimaginably terrifying aura surged from her, like a final burst of brilliance before death. Three sword beams shattered the giant hand, but she and Tu Lu were hurled skyward by the ensuing force.

“Master, if you don’t act now, he will die!” Ziling’s face was ashen, her consciousness seeming ready to fade at any moment, as she roared toward the heavens.

“Alas!”

A sigh echoed through the secret realm.

The entire world of Flowing Sand Marsh suddenly froze.

A colossal hand extended from the passageway—not the same as the one before, for this one did not emerge from the waterfall, but from the far end of the corridor.

At the sight of this giant hand, a faint smile played on Ziling’s lips as she finally closed her eyes.

...

“Where is this place?”

When Tu Lu awoke, he found himself in a thatched hut.

The hut was built on a mountain, yet the mountain itself gave him a sense of profound mystery.

“You’re awake?”

A middle-aged woman, dressed in a black robe adorned with strange patterns, sat not far away and suddenly spoke.

“You… you are…”

Tu Lu snapped fully awake.

“My worldly name has long been forgotten. The world knows me as the Supreme Sun Mistress.”

A chill shot through Tu Lu’s heart.

A Supreme Ascendant, peak of the Soul Transformation Realm!

To bear such a title, one had to have reached the pinnacle of cultivation.

At that moment, he finally recalled the final scene in the Flowing Sand Marsh.

“Where is Ziling?”

The Supreme Sun Mistress glanced at him, then waved her hand. A crystal coffin appeared on the ground.

Ziling lay within, the snowflake mark on her face gone.

Her flawless beauty seemed almost out of place in this world.

“What happened to her?”

“She is dead… or rather, she never truly lived. Now, she only sleeps,” the Supreme Sun Mistress replied, shaking her head.

Tu Lu’s heart trembled. “What do you mean?”

“Do you know my Soul Partition Technique?”

Tu Lu nodded.

“I see,” the Supreme Sun Mistress gazed at him deeply, then looked toward Ziling.

“This incarnation was created by Zhen Ling, that girl, using a strand of her origin. Her memories and emotions were sealed.

Do you understand now? From beginning to end, she never had a soul. Her existence depended on that wisp of origin—the source of which still remains with the true body in the Grand Void Palace.”

“That’s why the snowflake mark on her face was the true self.”

“But to save you, she exhausted that strand of origin. Having lost it, her connection to the true self was severed, and her memories and emotions fell into slumber with the body.”

Hearing this, Tu Lu’s mind buzzed.

“Take her away from here,” the Supreme Mistress suddenly said.

Tu Lu was startled and looked up at her.

She shook her head. “This is my selfishness as well.

My Soul Partition Technique is an exceedingly domineering art. As soon as she disappears, the body in the Grand Void Palace will begin to develop new memories and emotions. For most of the great powers there, this is a welcomed outcome.

But she, with only half a step into the Violet Palace’s memories and insights, was never permitted to exist.

Even her father hesitated—if not, I would have long since rescued you both, and things would not have come to this.”

“Take her away, as far as possible. If, one day, by fate’s favor, your cultivation reaches the Profound Heaven Realm…”

She paused, as if about to say more, but in the end, she merely shook her head.