Destined

Kun Long's death had been terribly unjust.

The Grand Sorcerer's period of weakness...

Only the Grand Sorcerers of each generation knew about it. Outsiders had virtually no chance of finding out.

After all, only someone who had become a Grand Sorcerer could sense their own period of weakness.

And how could a Grand Sorcerer ever reveal such a fatal vulnerability to the outside world?

That created a closed loop of information.

Besides, even knowing that Grand Sorcerers had a period of weakness was basically useless.

It occurred only once every ten years and lasted just half a day.

How could outsiders tell when that half day would come? Guess wrong, and they would make an enemy for life of a Grand Sorcerer.

For this reason, not once in the history of the Grand Sorcerers of the Nanyang Nations had one been killed during his period of weakness.

Kun Long's decision to spend his period of weakness at his lair had also come after careful consideration.

His lair was the sacred ground of the Nanyang sorcerer lineage. It held methods left behind by generations of Grand Sorcerers, and was guarded by numerous sorcerers.

It was the safest place there was.

As for finding some forbidden place outside, or building an underground chamber to hide in while he spent the half-day of weakness...

Who could say whether anyone might notice him during that time? And since Grand Sorcerers spent most of their time at the sacred ground, would suddenly leaving draw the attention of someone with ill intent?

Could he slip away quietly? How could he be sure he would manage to leave without being noticed?

There were too many factors to consider. Kun Long had no choice but to be cautious, and ultimately decided to spend his period of weakness at his lair.

First, by staying at his lair the whole time, he avoided drawing attention through the unusual act of suddenly leaving.

Second, he didn't put all his faith in the lair. Before his period of weakness began, he had arranged a low-level identity for himself at the sacred ground, allowing him to blend in with the many sorcerers there.

He also changed his appearance and concealed and altered his original aura.

That way, even if someone got absurdly lucky and attacked during his period of weakness, they still wouldn't be able to find him.

It wasn't as if they could kill every sorcerer at the sacred ground of the sorcerer lineage, could they?

In fact, Kun Long had anticipated this worst-case scenario.

The official forces of the Nanyang Nations might take advantage of his period of weakness and bombard the place with modern weapons, leveling the entire temple and wiping out thousands upon thousands of sorcerers.

Kun Long had a way to deal with that possibility, too: he would retreat to the temple's underground shelter.

The underground shelter beneath the temple's sacred ground had been built by generations of Grand Sorcerers. Outsiders knew nothing of it. Even if the sacred ground were reduced to ruins, the shelter would remain untouched. It could be called the sorcerer lineage's final sanctuary.

Kun Long had originally hidden in the underground shelter.

No matter what happened outside—even if his lair was wiped out and all his disciples and descendants were killed—he had resolved not to emerge until his period of weakness was over.

But when he learned that the person who had come was A Luomu, he could no longer sit still.

Outsiders didn't know the underground shelter existed, or how to get inside.

But A Luomu did!

Kun Long's current standing was built on defeating A Luomu.

A Luomu had also been the previous master of the sacred ground.

What if A Luomu grew impatient waiting outside, entered the temple before Kun Long's period of weakness ended, and then made his way into the underground shelter?

What if he found Kun Long hiding there?

Damn!

Even if A Luomu didn't recognize Kun Long beneath his altered appearance and aura, he would still find it strange that a low-level sorcerer was inside an underground shelter only Grand Sorcerers of each generation could enter.

Wouldn't that plainly tell A Luomu that this sorcerer was someone important?

And so Kun Long had quietly left the underground shelter, intending to get far away from the temple's sacred ground. Instead, A Luomu had intercepted him and killed him with a casual blow.

Kun Long had never imagined that, from beginning to end, Su Yuan had seen every one of his actions and movements as clearly as day. He had no secrets at all.

"My lord, what should I do next?"

After killing Kun Long, A Luomu didn't give it much thought.

In that respect, Kun Long could be considered quite successful.

At least A Luomu had never realized that the elderly sorcerer he had killed was the real Kun Long.

"Enter the temple's sacred ground and take control of the sorcerer lineage," Su Yuan said.

A Luomu froze at his words.

Then he asked cautiously, "My lord, Kun Long hasn't appeared yet. Isn't it a little too soon to take control of the sorcerer lineage?"

"Kun Long is already dead," Su Yuan said.

"Dead... Who's dead?" A Luomu was bewildered.

With a Grand Sorcerer's hearing, he had clearly heard every word Su Yuan said.

But put together, those words still felt utterly foreign to him.

Kun Long was dead?

When had he died?

Had one of my lord's subordinates been sent to kill him?

But a fight between experts at the level of Grand Sorcerers couldn't happen without a sound. A Luomu should have noticed at least some sign of it.

"The man you just killed was Kun Long," Su Yuan said calmly.

Since he had sent A Luomu to kill Kun Long, he was certain of the outcome.

From the moment Su Yuan found A Luomu more than half a day ago until now, everything had gone according to his plan.

At the heart of that plan was Kun Long's period of weakness.

It didn't matter where Kun Long chose to spend it—at the sacred ground, or in some hidden corner of the world. In the end, A Luomu, acting on Su Yuan's orders, would find him.

Kun Long's fate had been sealed.

"That was Kun Long?" A Luomu whipped his head around to look at the elderly sorcerer's corpse.

In an instant, all sorts of thoughts flashed through his mind. Assuming Su Yuan wouldn't lie to him, he quickly figured out the key.

"His period of weakness... Today was Kun Long's period of weakness?"

A Luomu immediately stepped forward and studied the elderly sorcerer's face. Then he gently brushed a hand over it, revealing slightly sinister features.

"It's Kun Long..."

Looking at the corpse of his great enemy, A Luomu felt an indescribably complicated jumble of emotions.

Relief, satisfaction, joy, confusion, shock, fear...

His great enemy was dead. His vengeance was complete. He had finally reclaimed everything that belonged to him, and more.

But the way Kun Long had died still chilled A Luomu to the bone. He had been killed during his own period of weakness?

"How did my lord know about Kun Long's period of weakness...?"

A Luomu couldn't understand it. He had thought he would have to fight a bloody, brutal battle, but Kun Long had died in his hands without putting up any resistance...

No.

To be precise,

he had died at his lord's hands.

In the state Kun Long was in during his period of weakness, any ordinary sorcerer could have killed him with ease.

A Luomu was merely a blade in his lord's hand—and one that could easily be replaced.

A Luomu trembled inside. The more he thought about how Kun Long had died, the more terrified he became, and the more reverence he felt for Su Yuan.

"Do as I said."

Su Yuan spoke again.

He had also anticipated all of A Luomu's thoughts and reactions after Kun Long's death.

After witnessing such methods, this Grand Sorcerer would be all the more willing to spare no effort in serving Su Yuan from then on.