Karma in flux, illusions shifting

The moment "Cold Cicada in the Cold" unleashed its Killing Intent, Lin Yu realized that his provocation had worked.

For Lin Yu...

In any case, judging from their current stance, "Cold Cicada" is almost certainly their enemy.

So, is he hostile towards me out of a "commission," or does he genuinely want to kill me? Which scenario is more advantageous?

In most cases, Lin Yu believes... the former is undoubtedly more advantageous.

An enemy who "does things for money" is definitely better than an enemy who is "fighting to the death".

A person's motivation often determines their behavior patterns and the intensity of their actions.

People who do something because of "external factors" are mostly inferior to those who do something from the heart.

Just like the paintings created by someone who paints for money, it's difficult for them to reach the heights achieved by those who truly love painting and dedicate their lives to it.

But...

Lin Yu still chose to provoke "Cold Cicada" within this incomplete "Karma Threads Illusion."

Naturally, it's because... Cold Cicada is a special case.

In Lin Yu's view, whether considering the fact that there was almost no information about Cold Cicada before they Order, or the meticulous mind that Han Chan displayed during their actual contact and two encounters...

Lin Yu felt that "provoking" was a good option.

Because, in Lin Yu's view, the disadvantage of allowing Cold Cicada to always have the option to remain uninvolved and to always "Leng Jing consider and plan" far outweighs the disadvantage of making the other party "go all out."

Of course, another important reason...

That means Lin Yu doesn't intend to let "Cold Cicada" go either.

After learning that the other party was the Chosen of God of the "Goddess of Shadow, Pain, and Nightmare", Lin Yu knew that he could not let "Cold Cicada" off easily.

With Senior Sister Shen Bingmiao using her last strength to seal off the "Divine Realm" and further limit the Deity's interference in the Ten Realms, the importance of the "Chosen of God" has undoubtedly increased.

So...

Knowing that the "Goddess of Shadow, Pain, and Nightmare" harbors hostility towards him, Lin Yu naturally wants to clip the other party's wings and kill the other party's Chosen of God as much as possible.

Moreover, besides the fact that it is the "Chosen of God" itself, Lin Yu is also quite concerned about the abilities of "Cold Cicada".

The abilities that "Cold Cicada" has demonstrated in direct combat so far... aside from borrowing the power of the three Snake Yaoguai and the three Demon Lords, the most important ones come from the power of "Shadow" and "Pain" used as "Chosen of God"—especially the use of the Authority "Pain," which can only be described as ingenious.

If Lin Yu hadn't been able to dilute the pain's interference with his thoughts through his unique soul form, an ordinary person who had just been hit by his move would probably have been rendered immobile and turned into a lamb to the slaughter.

But if we set aside these Authority... the opponent's abilities seem to be primarily based on "Gu Poison".

Just as Xiao Yun commented... this is indeed a difficult ability system to categorize—it's quite different from any of the known methods and Supernatural System in any of the Ten Realms.

Even the seemingly unbelievable fact that most of the [Item] on his person were "crafted" by himself seemed somewhat believable.

Add to that the Silk Thread he used to assassinate Qin Siyu at the beginning, and even further back, the methods he used to make "Penglai" win the "Player Mutual Aid Society" election...

Lin Yu was also quite concerned about how these abilities achieved this effect.

And that's why...

Even if "provoking" the other party is a reckless and risky move, Lin Yu will still choose to carry it out.

"Only by truly dragging you into this mess, making you genuinely feel the crisis, and making you genuinely want to Killing Intent me... will you reveal more weaknesses."

Lin Yu stared at Han Chan, whose face was as cold as frost in winter and whose eyes were like unsheathed Cold Cicada, and shrugged.

"Why are you looking like that? I'm just a little curious about your past as a 'mysterious person'—curiosity is human nature, after all."

At this point, Lin Yu maintained his smile and leaned forward slightly.

"What's wrong? Are you trying to kill me?"

But unexpectedly, although Cold Cicada still harbored Killing Intent, he gradually Leng Jing down—he suppressed his Killing Intent back into his heart.

"No... it's impossible. This is the 'Karma Threads Illusion,' an illusion you created... how could you possibly reveal a flaw here that would allow me to turn the tables and kill you?"

Lin Yu looked at Sun-Disc Moon-Melting Saint Lord beside him and said, "Maybe you really can do it... or rather, your Big Sister can do it."

Sun-Disc Moon-Melting Saint Lord narrowed his eyes and, after Lin Yu spoke, directly said, "That's right, brother... Here, I can still sense the world of the Two Mountains and Six Hells... So, perhaps here, I can also use and activate my Innate Divine Ability."

"Although this is indeed an illusion, the kid over there has a genuine 'soul' and 'consciousness,' and my Innate Divine Ability... might be able to kill him."

Cold Cicada shook her head. "No, Big Sister, since he took the initiative to suggest this method, we can't be careless... Perhaps, this is exactly the method he wants you to use."

"That Notebook from before was very strange... I don't know what kind of advanced theory it was based on, but... that bizarre power seemed to be able to analyze everything that happened."

"So, if you use your Innate Divine Ability here and fail to kill him... it might actually give him more information, which could be beneficial to him... allowing him to figure out how to counter your Innate Divine Ability, Big Sister."

Cold Cicada spoke, Lin Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe... I deliberately said those things to make you and your Big Sister hesitant and suspicious, so that you wouldn't dare to take the initiative—maybe it's all part of my Empty City Strategy."

"After all, when I pulled your soul and the Snake Yaoguai's soul into this illusion, I couldn't be sure that the snake Snake Yaoguai could still use its Innate Divine Ability here."

As Lin Yu spoke, Cold Cicada coldly replied, "You've got it wrong, 'Director'... I'm not playing a game of 'I predicted your prediction' or 'I predicted your prediction,' a kind of seemingly psychological Game that's essentially a game of rock-paper-scissors. Knowing your excellent 'acting skills,' I can't possibly judge you based on your performance and words... All my decisions are based on other conditions and facts, on weighing the pros and cons of different deduced outcomes."

"For me, the most unacceptable situation is that you saw through my Big Sister's supernatural powers here."

Cold Cicada finished speaking and then paused for a moment.

"After all, you can't do anything to me through this illusion—so stop pretending, 'Director,' what exactly do you want?"

"For me, the most important thing to do right now, the thing with the highest priority, is to leave this illusion."

"So... you'd better hurry—because I've already thought of some ways to leave."

"On the other hand, you probably can't keep this illusion going for very long."

Lin Yu said, "Yes... So, actually, I came here to investigate some facts that I want to know."

He spoke softly, then continued, "For example... although I can now confirm through some channels, and the fact that you're in the Prison Mountain Realm at this time, that you are Partner of the 'Marauders'..."

"I can correct you on that. I'm not cooperating with the 'Marauders'," Cold Cicada interrupted Lin Yu, "My partner is simply the 'Diviner'."

Lin Yu nodded. "For me, there's no need to distinguish so meticulously. In my view, 'Marauders' are just an extension of 'Diviner'... Anyway, what I want to confirm is, besides 'Diviner,' are there any other organizations or individuals you're collaborating with?"

As Lin Yu spoke, Cold Cicada narrowed her eyes. "Even if you ask, I won't answer."

"So... if what I need is your answer, why would I go to the trouble of dragging you into this Karma Threads Illusion —although we haven't had many opportunities to communicate before," Lin Yu paused before speaking, "But to drag you here just to create some opportunities for communication is a bit too extravagant."

"Although there are other forces mixed in with this recurring 'Karma' of the past, making it impossible for me to rewrite the Karma here and overwrite the existing facts as a new 'reality,' at least... I can still change the scene."

Lin Yu looked at Cold Cicada and gently pointed to his own head.

"Here, because you and I are both in 'soul' form... I can more easily detect your Mental Power fluctuations—in other words, I can detect the moment you were thinking."

Cold Cicada looked at Lin Yu: "But Mental Power is essentially just a kind of 'energy' born from thought... It's possible for you to use it to help analyze my emotions, but it can't be used as 'mind reading' to directly convert my thoughts into concrete and credible information..."

Lin Yu laughed, "Very knowledgeable, Cold Cicada, but... all I need is that fleeting 'fluctuation,' that fleeting emotion and feeling—because what I need is not to directly read and restore that fluctuation to information, but to find a 'similar' and 'matching' scene within this Karma Illusion!"

"The scene in your 'past Karma's that most closely resembles the 'Memory Fluctuation' you just subconsciously experienced... is what I'm looking for."

As Lin Yu finished speaking, the surrounding scenery began to change.

Cold Cicada looked at the rapidly changing street scene around her and sighed, "To be able to do something like this, I really... underestimated you."

The scene froze—the three had moved from outdoors to "indoors".

Surprisingly, they seemed to still be on the street—the streetscape outside the shop windows, the Street Trees, and the sidewalk bricks were exactly the same as the Street they had just been on.

After the scene froze, Lin Yu looked at Cold Cicada and stored away the remaining power of "belief".

Using "Memory Fluctuation" to retrieve "past Karma"...

Of course he can't do it.