"I can't possibly... tell you..."
Vistain curled his lips and spoke hoarsely.
The starlight connecting heaven and earth flickered in the darkness, stretching from the outer edges inward before gradually shattering. Behind He Ao, the corpse of the "Vistain" that had been fighting him all this time was also dissipating at a visible rate.
Vistain raised his head. After hesitating for a moment, he stared at He Ao as though he wanted to ask something, yet he could not bring himself to speak. His mouth hung slightly open, words left unsaid.
"You want to ask how I knew the one fighting me wasn't your real body, and how I knew your real body had been hiding far away?"
He Ao looked at him with a smile and asked softly.
Vistain's eyes widened. His head swayed as if he wanted to nod. Excitement flickered in his gaze; he had clearly not expected He Ao to bring up the question himself. A trace of anticipation flashed between his brows.
He Ao lowered his head, leaned close, and smiled. "Guess!"
Vistain froze, his eyes widening instantly.
In truth, the way He Ao had discovered that the Vistain fighting him was not the real Vistain was simple.
His Hyper Memory mark could not be placed on his opponent.
At that point, he realized that the "Vistain" fighting him either possessed some special blessing that made his soul immune to interference, or had no soul at all and was merely some kind of manifested power.
Later, during his battle with the shadows, after realizing their characteristics, he increasingly leaned toward the latter possibility.
The "Vistain" standing on the front stage was something like an avatar. It possessed the traits of flesh and blood and could turn into a shadow, seemingly no different from an ordinary