Conquering That Great Demon Lord [Xian Ni Fan Fiction] - Chapter 23: Reunion

Chapter 23: Reunion

Before long, spiritual power surged wildly in the northern courtyard. Wang Lin, disguised as a Cloud Heaven Sect disciple, merged with his white-haired, black-robed true body, ultimately consolidating into a single form.

“They’re merging,” Xu Liguo murmured as he slid down from the beam, crouching on a wooden chair to observe Wang Lin’s fusion.

The true Wang Lin’s expression was icy, his calm facade instantly shattering to reveal sharp killing intent. His deep eyes glanced toward the darkening window.

“Master, are you… planning to snatch someone away?”

“Sun Zhenwei ambushed me at the Immortal Dao Assembly. He must die!” Wang Lin’s gaze carried the chill of frozen steel.

Xu Liguo retreated several steps. This deadly star emerged full of bitterness and vengeancebetter not provoke him.

“Master, this is the Cloud Heaven Sect. You’re only at the Core Formation Stage now. Even with the Ancient God’s restrictions and forbidden banners, you can’t withstand so many Nascent Soul cultivators.”

“Besides, isn’t Sun Zhenwei about to become dual cultivation partners with Li Muwan? If you kill her husband-to-be yet refuse to reveal yourself, that doesn’t make sense.” Xu Liguo cautiously watched Wang Lin’s reaction.

Wang Lin simply retrieved a mask from his storage bag and pushed the door open.

Outside the courtyard lay the bloodied corpse of a great ape, its inner core removed. After brief observation, Wang Lin recognized it as Cheng Xian’s spirit beast.

Cheng Xian had treated him well. If the great ape had met disaster, Cheng Xian must also be in danger. Loyal to those who showed him kindness, Wang Lin refined the ape’s last wisp of remnant soul into a fiend before heading to Cheng Xian’s residence for details.

Meanwhile, Li Muwan, who was refining elixirs, felt simultaneous reactions from her soul blood and Soul Pearl.

“It’s him!”

The Soul Pearl, dormant for two hundred years, was vibrating wildly for the first time.

[Soul Pearl: Detected change in target’s favorability. Your fiend target’s favorability: 70%]

[Li Muwan: 70%? It was only 30% when we parted last time, then inexplicably rose to 45% previously.]

In the eastern garden’s back mountains, Wang Lin learned that Sun Zhenwei would emerge at night to hunt spirit beasts for their inner cores to enhance his cultivation. At the Core Formation Stage, Sun Zhenwei needed every method to advance toward Nascent Soul Formation. Li Muwan’s two-centuries-preserved Primordial Yin would benefit his breakthrough.

Hence Sun Zhenwei’s urgency to dual cultivate with her.

At this thought, Wang Lin’s spiritual power leaked out uncontrollably, spreading wildly like a bloodthirsty asura. His eyes flooded with bloodlust, his chilling aura freezing all life within a hundred miles as murderous intent surged forth.

Sensing the soul blood’s call, Li Muwan flew from the southern garden to the eastern back mountains, tracking its traces.

She coincidentally encountered Sun Zhenwei searching for spirit beasts.

Sun Zhenwei stared in astonishment at Li Muwan’s appearance here, approaching with a smile. “Junior Sister, what brings you here?”

“I may have struck too hard during the Immortal Dao Assembly. Have you been taking the elixirs I sent?”

Li Muwan scanned the surroundings, ignoring him.

Displeased but maintaining his smile, Sun Zhenwei asked, “With our Dual Cultivation Ceremony approaching, did you come specifically to find me?”

Li Muwan didn’t look at him directly, instead following the soul blood’s sensation to reconfirm the fiend’s location.

The soul blood clearly indicated his presence nearby, yet she couldn’t find any trace. Li Muwan smiled self-mockinglywas he deliberately avoiding her?

He knew she could sense him. All these days of constant proximity, he kept hiding his identity, refusing recognition. The more she thought about it, the more grievance welled in her heart.

“I know you’re here,” she whispered to the dark night, where only a few crows cawed, the silence becoming unbearable. “Why won’t you even meet me once?”

“Junior Sister, who are you talking to?” Sun Zhenwei wore a puzzled expression.

“Over these past two hundred years, Wan’er has relied entirely on that bottle of Spirit Elixir you gifted me to sustain my life. I ask for nothing else, only hoping to see you once.” She wanted to see whether the Fiend sensed through her Soul Blood was Wang Lin, who had been with her day and night in the Southern Garden for months, or Ma Liang from the Sea of Demonic Cultivation back then.

Yet the empty surroundings still offered no response. He truly was this heartless and cold. After a moment of contemplation, Li Muwan declared, “If you don’t appear today, Wan’er will end herself here, thus severing this obsession in my heart.”

The affection within the Soul Pearl wasn’t illusory. He did care for her, but to what extent this affection would drive himshe would have to gamble once more.

Indeed, he couldn’t bear it!

A helpless sigh shattered the silence, pulling Li Muwan’s despairing heart back from the abyss.

“Why must you do this?”

From behind a massive rock emerged a tall, imposing figure with noble bearinga man as flawless as jade. She seemed to see again the figure that had appeared multiple times in the stone chambers of the Sea of Demonic Cultivation two centuries ago.

Yet the person before her now wore a mask. The night breeze brushed through his elegant white hair, billowing his wide sleeves. Just one glimpse of his profile felt like an eternity.

Her Soul Blood resonated. She couldn’t clearly see the Fiend’s facehis stature had changed, his hair was differentbut the voice was his, and so was that familiar, innate arrogance.

Delight flashed across Li Muwan’s face as she stared intently at the figure before her, her eyes filled with anticipation. Her gaze never wavered until Wang Lin turned fully toward her.

Sun Zhenwei grew wary and attempted to make a move, but the oppressive aura radiating from Wang Lin made him abandon the thought.

From Li Muwan’s reaction, it was clear this person shared a profound connection with her. Wang Lin, too, prepared to strike at any moment. His purpose tonight had originally been to kill Sun Zhenwei, but he hadn’t expected Li Muwan to be here as well.

Wang Lin’s peripheral gaze returned to Li Muwan, his expression beneath the mask unreadable.

She looked joyfully at the aloof figure before her, hoping to extract some truthful words from him through their token.

“Have you kept that Jade Slip?” Li Muwan couldn’t see his expression, only sensing an untouchable dignity that made her hesitate.

“Threw it away.” Wang Lin turned his head away, no longer looking at her, cold as a stranger.

Her anticipation shattered. Li Muwan’s heart twisted sharplythat Jade Slip had been created at the cost of her lifespan when she had already lost her Soul of Life, making her remaining years uncertain. Nothing could be more precious than such devotion.

Yet her pride kept her composure intact. Gathering her original strength, she finally uttered an indifferent: “If it’s thrown away, then so be it. It was never anything valuable anyway.”

Wang Lin steadied his breathing. Being so meticulous, how could he not detect the desolation in Li Muwan’s tone? That Azure Dragon Jade Tablet had saved his life twice in the Ancient God’s realm. Even a glance at the cracks on the Jade Slip pained his hearthow could he bear to discard it?

“I’m leaving.” His expression beneath the mask gradually emptied, his heart as if pulled by invisible threads, leading him to inexplicably utter these words.

Li Muwan lowered her gaze, secretly grieving, swallowing her grievances until they turned sour in her throat. Her helpless, lost figure was utterly pitiableenough to melt even millennia-old ice.

Wang Lin, maintaining his composure, calmly walked past her. As they brushed shoulders, Li Muwan mustered her final shred of courage. Since she had finally seen him, she thought she should try one more time.

Wang Lin’s figure cast a shadow over her peripheral vision as she carefully pinched a corner of his sleeve, her touch so light it was almost imperceptible.

Yet this faint contact was enough.

Wang Lin abruptly halted his steps. The feather-light touch couldn’t truly stop him, yet it seemed he had intentionally brushed past herhis heart willing to pause at this moment.

What she held between her fingers wasn’t merely a piece of fabric, but Wang Lin’s heartinstinctively drawn to her yet unable to lay bare.

Li Muwan glimpsed a sliver of hope, though his profile remained indistinct. Beneath the mask, his demeanor was as cold as frost, as if separated by an abyss of extreme cold.

Her carefully controlled breath still carried a tremble as she spoke, “The Grand Ancestor of Cloud Heaven Sect has ordered me to become dual cultivation partners with this person. I had reasons to refuse before, but now I have none. If you’re still in Chu Kingdom three months from now, I hope you can attend the dual cultivation ceremony.”

He had long known about their arranged dual cultivation, yet facing Li Muwan’s invitation directly, a pang of bitterness drove him. Tormented and conflicted, he once again uttered cruel words against his true feelings.

“Congratulations.”

Were it not for his extraordinary composure, the emotions he barely restrained would have shown through. His low, hoarse voice carried imperceptible restraint.

Congratulations? After waiting two hundred years for their reunion, all she received was his “congratulations.”

Four years of companionship in the Sea of Demonic Cultivationif he had forgotten over two centuries, then what did their recent interactions in Cloud Heaven Sect mean?

The atmosphere grew suffocating, as if countless boulders were pressing down, making even his “congratulations” tremble.

No longer able to maintain his calm composure, he abandoned his plan to take Sun Zhenwei’s life that night and left the Eastern Garden.

Li Muwan turned around. The figure riding the Flying Sword faded into the distance. Quickly collecting her emotions, she wiped away unwilling tears and decisively rode her sword back to the Southern Garden.

If the person she met tonight was indeed Wang Lin from the Northern Courtwho had feigned ignorance during previous teststhen tonight’s confession had been completely unreserved.

If he still refused to acknowledge her, Li Muwan would devise another plan.

On her way back to the Southern Garden, she pondered deeply. The Soul Pearl’s affinity had risen so highthe Fiend clearly had feelings for her, so why did he stubbornly refuse to acknowledge their connection?

Wang Lin, having missed his chance to eliminate Sun Zhenwei, was troubled about his next move.

“Master, Li Muwan already knows of your existence. Hiding won’t solve anything,” Xu Liguo said, arms crossed over his chest, watching the frowning Wang Lin with amusement.

“And you never discarded that Jade Slip, did you? Just a crack and you treat it like a treasure, it hurts so much.”

Wang Lin’s gaze swept across the room, his chilling aura instantly enveloping the chamber and spreading throughout the Northern Court, carrying destructive power.

The spirit herbs withered in an instant. Xu Liguo gasped in shock, quickly covering his mouth to silence himself.

The little devil was going mad.

The enchanting night gave way to morning light that melted the Northern Court’s frost. Wang Lin had remained awake all night, his usually tidy bedchamber now in disarray with scattered medicinal herbs and pill bottlesnothing remained intact.

Xu Liguo hid back in the Dragon Tendon, unusually quiet and not daring to emerge.

The sound of a zither drifted from the Southern Garden to the Northern Court. Li Muwan sat behind a screen in the pavilion, her figure veiled by light gauze as if waiting for someone.

Shortly after their separation at the Eastern Garden’s back mountain last night, the connection through the Soul Blood and Soul Pearl had vanished once more.

The zither music carried threads of sorrowthe eternal regret of unrequited love that never came to fruition.

Wang Lin’s voice rose from below the pavilion, interrupting her solitary melancholy. “Disciple Wang Lin, here to pay respects to Ancestor Li.”

As the zither notes rose, Li Muwan’s lips curved upward as if grasping hold of conviction, yet she remained exceptionally composed, restoring the dignified authority befitting a elder of her station. Her words carried deliberate distance: “The Dual Cultivation Ceremony approaches. Your master Zhou Lin will emerge from seclusion soon. Unless matters are urgent, do not disturb me further.”

He was the one unwilling to acknowledge their connection. Last night’s probing had been her final act of initiative toward him.

Henceforth, all would flow like water.

She would remain Elder Li of Cloud Heaven Sect, the Li Muwan who had never met that disciple named Wang Lin, who cultivated diligently in Southern Garden, mastered Pill Crafting, and remained detached from worldly affairs.

She had resolved that unless he revealed his identity, she would not accommodate his wishes this time. The line cast toward the Fiend had been long enoughit was time to reel it in.

Moments later, voices carried from downstairs again, but this time…

The voice had changed.

“I need an Elixir that enables Nascent Soul Formation within two months.”

Despite her cultivated calm, Li Muwan behind the silk curtain clenched the hand resting on her knee.

This belonged solely to their intertwined destiniesWang Lin knew such a declaration would allow Li Muwan to deduce his identity.

“Who are you?” Li Muwan shattered the window, landing with hands braced against the balcony railing as she stared down at her grand-disciple Wang Lin.

Wang Lin saw the figure that had haunted his thoughts all nightthe compassionate presence from the northern hills. After a moment’s concentration, he soared onto the balcony. “Do you possess such an Elixir?”

Li Muwan retreated half a step, demanding again: “Who exactly are you?”

With resignation, Wang Lin produced the Jade Slip he claimed to have discarded last night. Though aware he had become a Fiend, Li Muwan hadn’t questioned the truth of his words yesterday. Now seeing the Jade Slip, all her pent-up grievances surged into her throat.

Her body went limp, swaying backward. Wang Lin’s arm encircled her waist to steady her while his other hand instinctively caught her wrist.

In Southern Garden, the chirping of Spirit Beast birds ceased. A pair of cranes swept across the sky as their close proximity allowed them to feel each other’s breath.

He finally acknowledged her!

Yet numerous questions swirled in Li Muwan’s mind. After a prolonged gaze, she turned away, flustered by his uncharacteristic tenderness. Releasing her, Wang Lin casually approached the railing, gazing ahead.

That familiar expression and voice she’d replayed countless times in her heart spoke: “Killing Sun Zhenwei is simple enough. But wait until my Cultivation level suffices to let us roam unchallenged through Chu Kingdomagreed?”

It was truly him. Li Muwan’s heart settled.

“Mm.”