Wu Ren listened to Fan Zhou's questioning, but merely smiled faintly. He had always been very careful in such matters. Even if he harbored a few private thoughts, he would never speak of them while Luo Zhong was present.
He said only, "Junior Brother Fan, is there anything else you wish to say?"
Seeing that he had not stated his purpose, Fan Zhou's spirits, which had briefly lifted, wilted once more. "You came this time intending to make me fall into Great Chaos sooner, didn't you...?"
Wu Ren nodded. "That was originally my intention, but there is no need for it now."
Wu Ren's gaze was fixed beneath Fan Zhou's feet, so Fan Zhou lowered his head as well. At the sight, he was startled. From within his shadow, tendrils had sprouted, swaying back and forth.
With so many fellow disciples before him having set a precedent, he was already all too familiar with this condition. It was the sign that he was about to transform into a chaotic monster.
Though he had held on for several years, at this moment he could no longer persist. He was turning into a chaotic monster. And once the transformation began, it could no longer be stopped.
Wu Ren looked at him a few more times and said, "Junior Brother, I will fulfill the wishes you failed to fulfill on your behalf. Stay here in peace. In the future, this chaotic body of yours may yet be of use to your senior brother, for shifting and traveling." With that, he turned and walked back.
Fan Zhou silently looked down. The shadow bristling with long tendrils slowly faded, while his own aura grew weaker and weaker. In the end, his entire body was enveloped by a mass of turbid, heavy qi.
Not long afterward,