Several hours later.
The carriage arrived at the next city, and the convoy stopped to take a short break.
At last, the swaying carriage fell still.
Ji Xuan slowly opened his eyes, his gaze clear.
He stretched, and a few soft pops sounded from his joints.
Ling Luochеn had been watching him intently. When she saw him wake, her heart stirred.
She thought Ji Xuan would finally speak to her now.
However.
Ji Xuan merely glanced at her casually.
Then he slowly held out his hand, palm up. His meaning could not have been clearer.
"That card."
Those three simple words left Ling Luochеn completely stunned.
She stared at Ji Xuan, momentarily unable to react.
"You're not... planning to refuse to pay, are you?"
Ji Xuan raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth curling into a faintly mocking smile.
His voice was quiet, yet Ling Luochеn felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
She trembled with anger and abruptly stood up, her chest heaving.
"I, a dignified..."
She nearly blurted out her identity, but forced the words back down at the last moment.
"What kind of person do you take me for?!"
She pulled the Purple Crystal Card from her Storage Soul Tool and almost hurled it at Ji Xuan.
"Take it! The password is six sixes!"
Ji Xuan caught the Purple Crystal Card steadily, utterly unmoved by her fury.
He nodded, then hopped down from the carriage and headed straight for the bank in town.
Watching him walk away without the slightest hesitation, Ling Luochеn felt her blood rush to her head. She nearly ground her teeth to powder.
That bastard!
Holding the Purple Crystal Card, Ji Xuan easily found the bank.
He withdrew enough money to cover both their fares.
Once he was done, he tucked away the money pouch and found the convoy leader, who was bragging and joking around with his men.
"Big brother, thanks for all your hard work."
Ji Xuan walked over with a smile and offered him a flask of fine liquor he had just bought.
"Oh, you're too kind, young brother!"
The leader accepted the liquor, his face lighting up with delight.
As Ji Xuan chatted with him about the road, he quietly activated [Mirror Flower, Water Moon].
A barely perceptible glimmer flashed. He "accidentally" brushed against the leader.
In that instant, Ji Xuan replaced the illusory fake money pouch at the leader's waist with the real one, filled with Gold Soul Coins.
At the same time, he slipped the empty fake pouch into his own clothes.
The whole process was smooth as flowing water and fast as lightning.
The leader didn't notice a thing.
"You're a real good sport, young brother! If you ever travel this route again, come find me anytime!"
"Of course, of course."
Ji Xuan smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries, then returned to the convoy.
Back in the carriage, he tossed the Purple Crystal Card back to Ling Luochеn.
Then he lay back down on the cargo, resting his hands behind his head and half-closing his eyes.
Ling Luochеn took the card and watched him act as if nothing could ruffle him. She couldn't help grinding her teeth again.
She drew a deep breath, ready to demand who he really was and what he wanted.
But Ji Xuan's lazy voice rang in her ears like a thunderclap.
"You're that so-called 'Ice Princess' from the inner court, Ling Luochеn, aren't you?"
Ling Luochеn stiffened all over.
She stared hard at Ji Xuan, her heart giving a sudden lurch.
"Who are you?!"
She lowered her voice, each word seemingly forced through clenched teeth.
The Soul Power in her body began to surge beyond her control.
Ji Xuan didn't even open his eyes. His voice remained calm and unruffled.
"I'm just a work-study student at Shrek."
"I saw you from a distance a few times while I was cleaning the courtyards."
Ji Xuan's voice remained even, though a trace of mockery crept into it.
He paused, then leisurely added the rest.
"The others may have run away, but you're a heaven-blessed prodigy, one of the Shrek Seven Devils."
"Do you think the school leaders are fools if you just leave Shrek like this?"
Boom!
Those words exploded in Ling Luochеn's ears like a thunderclap.
She jolted, all color draining from her face.
That was right!
Who was she?
She was one of the Shrek Seven Devils, a core student the academy had spent countless resources training!
She had only been thinking about escaping as quickly as possible. She hadn't considered the consequences.
Her disappearance would certainly shake the academy's upper ranks!
And if the school leaders personally launched an investigation...
Where could she run?
If they caught her and dragged her back, she would face not only severe punishment, but a stain that could never be washed away!
Fear, regret, confusion, resentment...
Countless negative emotions crashed over her like a bursting flood, instantly overwhelming her defenses.
"No... That can't happen..."
She instinctively wrapped her arms around herself, her body trembling beneath the black robe.
And at the very moment her mind faltered,
a sinister, icy force lying dormant inside her abruptly erupted!
"Crack—"
A sharp snap rang out. The crystal-clear ice beneath her split down the middle.
Then strange threads of blood spread from the fissure like venomous snakes, staining the entire block of ice red in an instant!
An evil aura, a mixture of bitter cold and violent fury, burst outward!
The once-pure ice turned a heart-stopping blood red, bit by bit, right before their eyes!
"Ugh!"
Ling Luochеn let out a pained groan!
"Hmm?!"
Ji Xuan shot upright from the cargo.
His gaze flashed like lightning as he stared at the blood-red ice beneath Ling Luochеn.
A look of understanding flickered in his eyes.
He quickly moved away from her, retreating to the far corner of the carriage.
"Did Wang Yan 'guide' you?"
Ji Xuan's voice was grave, but his tone remained composed.
Ling Luochеn clutched her head in pain, unable to answer.
Blood-red chill poured from her in a frenzy. The temperature throughout the carriage plummeted, and a thin layer of blood-red frost formed over the floorboards and cargo!
She was about to lose control!
If the power of a Soul King completely ran wild,
the entire convoy would face annihilation!
As Ling Luochеn's eyes began to glow with an ominous red,
Ji Xuan knew he could wait no longer!
"Ling Luochеn! Look here!"
He suddenly shouted.
Ling Luochеn lifted her head in a daze. Her beautiful eyes, filled with pain and despair, met the ancient bronze mirror in Ji Xuan's hand.
In its surface, she saw her own pale face, her eyes bloodshot.
Just then,
a deep black Soul Ring rose abruptly from beneath Ji Xuan's feet, radiating a terrifying aura that made the heart tremble!
A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!
No, the depth of its light even surpassed that of an ordinary ten-thousand-year ring!
"First Soul Skill—Mirror Flower, Water Moon!"
Ji Xuan growled, pouring all his Soul Power and spiritual power into his Martial Soul!
Buzz—
Light blazed across the mirror. Ling Luochеn's vision blurred, and the entire world spun around her!
She was no longer in the carriage. Instead, she plunged into an endless abyss made up of countless shattered mirrors.
Every fragment reflected her own face, twisted in agony.
Countless versions of herself surrounded her, letting out silent shrieks!
"Ahhh!"
Ling Luochеn clutched her head and screamed in agony.
Meanwhile, in the real world,
Ji Xuan's face had gone as pale as paper.
Beads of sweat rolled from his forehead, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
With the cultivation of a level-twenty Soul Master, forcibly dragging a Soul King above level fifty into an illusion—
even with her mind in disarray, it placed an unimaginable strain on him!
His brain felt as if it were being torn apart. Every second was like dancing on the edge of a blade!
"Hold on... Hold on, damn it!"
Ji Xuan gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot as he struggled to maintain the illusion.
Fortunately, the Soul Skill really had come from the system. [Mirror Flower, Water Moon] was far more powerful than he could have imagined.
Fortunately, Ling Luochеn was no ordinary person, either.
The intense external stimulus from the illusion let her wrench herself free of the corruption for a brief moment.
That fleeting moment of clarity gave her an opening!
She immediately urged her Soul Power to suppress the sinister force rampaging inside her!
Time passed, one second at a time.
Only a few minutes went by, but they felt like centuries.
The blood-red ice in the carriage stopped spreading, and the strange blood-red threads began to slowly fade.
When the last trace of red vanished from Ling Luochеn's eyes, she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed limply to the floor.
But at last, she had suppressed the rampaging violence once more.
At almost the same moment, Ji Xuan could hold on no longer.
The illusion of [Mirror Flower, Water Moon] shattered instantly.
All strength seemed to drain from him. He slumped to the floor and gasped for breath.
The veins in his forehead bulged, his face was deathly pale, and his spiritual power was nearly exhausted.
A ten-thousand-year Soul Skill was certainly powerful, but with his level-twenty Soul Power, controlling a Soul King with an illusion was sheer fantasy!
If Ling Luochеn's mind hadn't collapsed and given him an opening,
he never could have pulled it off!
Fortunately, he had managed to stabilize her!
Ling Luochеn still clutched her head, but her body no longer trembled, and her breathing gradually steadied.
She raised her head in a daze, her eyes full of confusion, as if she had just awakened from a long, terrifying nightmare.
"What... What happened to me?"
Ji Xuan didn't answer her.
He leaned against the carriage wall with his eyes closed, calming the Soul Power churning inside him.
Now, he had become intensely curious about the hidden hand Wang Yan had left behind.
Could this sinister power, capable of corrupting the Martial Soul Origin and even triggering a Martial Soul Mutation,
really be the work of Holy Spirit Cult's dark arts alone?
Before you continue