Luo Chuan's gaze fell on Lin Junwan. His eyes were as deep as the starry sky, as if he had already seen through the sleeping soul within her. His tone was calm but carried an undeniable pressure.
"It's been so many years, you've grown up."
As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Chuan turned his head slightly and looked at Li Muwan, whose expression was complicated. The aura that had made all the cultivators in the room trembled quietly subsided, leaving only a gentle one.
" Wan'er, you've had a tough time all these years."
Li Muwan's fingers tightened slightly around the wine glass, her heart filled with a mixture of surprise and joy. A thousand words welled up in her mouth, but only a soft call escaped her lips, " Luo Chuan..."
Li Muwan looked up at the familiar yet unfamiliar man before her. In just a few short years, his cultivation had become unfathomable, far exceeding the limits of her imagination.
As Lin Junwan looked at Luo Chuan, the inexplicable sense of familiarity in her heart grew stronger. Although it was only their first meeting, it felt as if they had known each other for eternity.
Especially when Luo Chuan's gaze swept over her, the red-clad woman's soul deep within her body, which Dao Yi dormant and occasionally awakened, quieted down at this moment, carrying a trace of awe and attachment.
The entire room fell silent.
All the other powerful cultivators from various cultivation kingdoms who came to offer their congratulations didn't dare to even breathe loudly.
The oppressive aura they felt just moments ago made them realize that the white-robed man before them was no ordinary person born from a remote place like Vermilion Bird Planet; he was a true supreme being from the depths of the starry sky.
Li Muwan walked over at this moment, gently biting her lip, and said with some difficulty, " Luo Chuan... Jun Wan said... there is someone inside her who wants to take over her body."
Upon hearing this, Luo Chuan's expression changed instantly. He appeared in front of Lin Junwan almost in a flash, and after sensing the soul that had been reassembled within her, he showed a look of shock.
"No... impossible. I clearly determined back then that Lin Junwan only had one soul inside her. How could a second one appear?"
Luo Chuan looked towards Li Muwan's location, a flash of anger in his eyes, " Wan'er, was this your doing?"
" Wan'er didn't."
Li Muwan understood Yao Xixue's position in Luo Chuan's heart, but she also understood the importance of this matter to Luo Chuan. Although she had this idea, she couldn't do it.
Luo Chuan stared blankly at Lin Junwan, his fingertips trembling slightly. His unfathomable aura surged violently at this moment, and his eyes, which were originally as calm as an abyss, suddenly surged with unbelievable waves of shock.
The next moment, a suppressed, maniacal laugh suddenly burst from his mouth.
The laughter was shrill and filled with endless sorrow, echoing throughout the Hengyue Sect, shaking the hearts of all the powerful figures present and turning their faces pale.
"Hahaha... Hahaha!!"
"Eighteen years... I've waited a full eighteen years!"
"I defied fate for her, sealed her soul, nurtured her with my body's warmth, and exhausted all my ancient opportunities to lay out an earth-shattering plan, all for her return one day, so that she could be reborn!"
Luo Chuan suddenly looked up, his white hair flying wildly in the invisible waves of energy, the void around him cracking inch by inch, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surging back wildly, as if even this world could not withstand his despair and rage at this moment.
"I've calculated every secret, arranged everything, and am certain this body will only nurture her new life..."
"But I never expected that in the end, there would be an extra, complete soul!"
Luo Chuan suddenly looked at Li Muwan, his eyes bloodshot, filled with hatred, anger, and overwhelming resentment. Yet, when he met her clear and innocent eyes, he forcefully suppressed his murderous intent to destroy everything.
He staggered, took a half-step back, raised his hand to press his brow, and his laughter gradually turned hoarse, carrying a bone-chilling sorrow.
"I've waited eighteen years, longed for eighteen years, and waited for eighteen years..."
"In the end... the person I raised with my own hands wasn't my Xixue, but a complete stranger!"
"Hahahaha!! This is the way of Heaven, the cycle of Heaven, it's perfect, not a single bit off, it really... it really doesn't go as I wish!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Chuan punched into the void.
Boom!!
The entire sky exploded with a deafening roar, the Eternal Mountain Range trembled violently, the clouds and mist swirled back, and a shocking, pitch-black crack appeared in the sky.
Li Muwan's face turned deathly pale, tears streaming silently down her face. She tried to step forward, but was stopped in her tracks by that desperate and violent aura.
Looking at the man before her, who was on the verge of collapse, she finally understood that Luo Chuan's eighteen years of protection, his departure and return, had never been for Lin Junwan.
All of Luo Chuan's tenderness, all his sacrifices, and all his waiting were reserved for the woman sleeping inside Lin Junwan's body.
And now, Luo Chuan's hopes, which he had poured out of everything, have been shattered.
Lin Junwan also knelt on the ground in anguish, tears streaming down her face. Looking at her Luo Chuan, she couldn't understand what she had done wrong or why Luo Chuan would treat her this way.
Luo Chuan strode up to Lin Junwan, his steps heavy, as if carrying an eternal loneliness.
Li Muwan's expression changed drastically. Almost instinctively, she flashed in front of Lin Junwan, her Yangshi Realm cultivation erupting suddenly, her red clothes fluttering, her eyes resolute.
" Luo Chuan, no! Jun Wan is innocent! She did nothing wrong!"
Li Muwan thought that the man in front of her, who was consumed by despair, would not hesitate to erase Lin Junwan's living soul for Yao Xixue.
The cultivators present were all silent, not daring to even breathe too heavily.
Luo Chuan raised his eyes, the crimson gaze gradually fading, leaving only a deathly weariness. However, he did not look at Li Muwan, but simply raised his hand gently, a soft yet irresistible golden light emanating from his fingertips, slowly probing into Lin Junwan's brow.
Lin Junwan trembled, feeling as if the familiar red-clad figure in her mind was gently lifted up, and the longing and unease that had accompanied her for many years were forcibly pulled away at this moment.
In an instant, Luo Chuan withdrew his hand.
A wisp of solidified, red-clad remnant soul floated quietly in his palm; it was Yao Xixue's original divine soul, sleeping peacefully in his hand, showing no sign of waking up.
Luo Chuan didn't look at Lin Junwan, who was kneeling on the ground with tears streaming down her face, nor did he glance at Li Muwan was protecting him in front of her.
Eighteen years of obsession, eighteen years of planning, eighteen years of waiting... and now, it's all over.
Luo Chuan exhaled a deep breath of hot air, a flash of white light around him, and the void cracked open once more. Only a voice, utterly indifferent yet piercingly painful, echoed between heaven and earth.
"I, Luo Chuan, hereby swear that one day I will personally annihilate the Heavenly Dao, making it Luo Chuan slave, forever bowing down to me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Chuan, dressed in a white robe, stepped into the void rift and vanished without a trace.
The world returned to calm, leaving only a group of cultivators still in shock.