"What did you do to him?!" Selene shouted furiously.
"Don't bother trying to save him. This technique is meant to torture your enemies. If it reaches you, it's a death sentence," Darian said with a cruel smile.
His words had an immediate effect on Selene, who couldn't hold back her tears. She felt as if she couldn't breathe, clutching her chest—she had never felt anything like this before.
All these years with Adam had forged a strange relationship between them. Yes, he was her disciple, but he was also the only person she could trust, the only one she felt comfortable with. Besides, she had only been eighteen when they met—she had spent nearly half her life with him.
Memories of their time together flooded her mind: how they met, every training session, his jokes and embarrassed expressions, the nights spent talking under the stars, the way he cared for her despite her being a superior existence. Adam had always been kind to her… too kind.
And now, she was there, watching the life slip away from the only person she cared about. Thinking back, she had never told him. If only she could turn back time, she would make sure to tell him every single day.
Selene ignored Darian and knelt beside Adam, sobbing.
"Hic… Why? Why didn't I listen to you? My physique blinded me," she lamented, blaming herself for what had happened. She had let her abilities cloud her judgment and missed all the signs of a trap.
Darian was furious. He didn't like being ignored over the death of a mere worm.
"You'll come with me now if you don't want to cause trouble for your family," he threatened.
Selene steadied herself upon hearing his words, her eyes burning with intense hatred. She just wanted to kill him. No… that wouldn't be enough. If she could, she would skin him alive and feed him to the beasts.
"Family? I don't have that anymore."
Her relationship with her family had deteriorated ever since they abandoned her under Darian's pressure.
Darian sensed what Selene was planning.
"Are you going to burn your life force?" he asked mockingly.
Selene didn't answer. Burning her life force was the only way to drastically increase her power. In exchange for skipping several cultivation stages, her lifespan would be drained with each passing second—until even her soul was consumed, preventing reincarnation.
If she was going to die, she would do it on her own terms.
"You know it won't make a difference. Don't do anything stupid. You have no idea what I went through to find you," Darian said truthfully. Even if she burned her life force, she still wouldn't be able to win—the gap between them was too great.
Selene ignored him and began burning her life force.
Darian grinned wickedly.
A sudden, unknown presence loomed behind Selene.
Thump.
"Ack!" Selene coughed up a mouthful of blood and looked behind her.
She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"Y-you…?"
Behind her, a second Darian grinned triumphantly.
"Do you think I hold the title of Immortal Emperor for nothing? It's because of my physique—the Absolute Cloning Physique. It allows me to create clones identical to myself, with the same strength and completely indistinguishable from the original," he revealed, showing his trump card.
Those who possessed unique physiques usually kept them secret as their final weapon. Only a few disregarded that rule.
Selene tried to burn her life force again, but she couldn't feel her dantian.
"Don't bother. Did you really think I hadn't planned for everything? You won't escape me this time," Darian said possessively.
Her dantian had been sealed using some kind of spiritual technique.
Realizing this, Selene collapsed to her knees. Her gaze was empty. She refused to give Darian the satisfaction of seeing her break.
"That's more like it. We're going to have a lot of fun in the coming years," he said, his eyes roaming her body. Finally, his efforts would pay off.
What Selene didn't know was that if she used her ability to see her own fate at that moment, she would realize the dark cloud that had tormented her for so long had disappeared. In its place, a golden light, as brilliant as the sun, surrounded her.
"It's over," was the only thought in her mind as she watched Darian approach.
Darian wasn't going to waste any time. He wanted to know what it felt like to touch one of the immortal fairies. His mind was twisted beyond repair.
Following his desires, he reached out his hand toward Selene.
She closed her eyes, trembling. But Darian's hand never touched her.
Slowly, Selene opened her eyes, only to see a figure standing between her and Darian.
Long white hair obscured her vision.
"A-Adam?" Selene wondered if she was hallucinating. Was it because of the trauma she had just endured?
In front of her, Adam stood firm, gripping Darian's wrist, preventing him from moving forward.
"H-how is this possible?" Even Darian couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Three moves," Adam said, eyes closed. His voice was different from usual.
Selene frowned. That wasn't Adam's voice. And there was something different about him.
"Three moves?" Darian didn't understand what he meant.
"I will finish this in three moves," the voice explained. That was the limit a mortal body could withstand.
Darian tried to free himself from his grasp, but it was useless, which only fueled his rage.
"Bastard, I don't know where you got that power from, but if you think it's enough to defeat me, you're gravely mistaken," Darian said as a multitude of clones appeared around him. The number stopped increasing once it reached ten.
Adam then released his arm.
"Well, it seems you're finally starting to understand your place," Darian said, regaining his confidence.
Suddenly, Adam's eyelids began to open. His blue eyes looked different: inside each, two golden five-pointed stars overlapped. On each of their points, runes of unknown meaning glowed.
As soon as his eyes were fully open, an immense pressure spread throughout the area. It wasn't the kind of pressure someone would emit through cultivation, but a natural force—one that would be felt when standing before a superior existence.
Darian felt an overwhelming urge to kneel, but using all his strength, he barely managed to stay on his feet.
"One," the voice said, giving him no time to react.
One of the runes in his eye—the one that meant "liberation"—shone for an instant.
Darian felt nothing, but Selene did. She felt the seal that had imprisoned her shatter, restoring all her power.
"Two."
Another rune, this time the one that meant "control", began to shine.
Darian and the cultivators who had set the trap felt their connection to immortal qi vanish. In an instant, they were reduced to mere mortals.
Darian's clones lost their connection to him and disappeared.
"N-no way… W-what are you?" Darian's mind began to spiral into panic. He had never heard of anything like this before.
"Three."
The voice ignored his despair. This time, it activated a spiritual technique, absorbing the qi in the surroundings to fuel it.
"Primordial Destruction Slash."
With his index finger, Adam made a small cutting motion through the air in front of him.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Darian let out a sigh of relief. Whatever Adam had attempted, it seemed to have failed.
"Crashhh!"
A familiar sound echoed in Darian's ears—the sound of space fracturing.
The space before Adam shattered violently, unleashing an immense purple qi blade that threatened to consume everything in its path.
Darian and his group could do nothing but await their deaths, unable to move due to the technique.
"Whooom!"
Everything was devastated in its wake. There was no trace of Darian or his followers.
Selene, stunned, murmured:
"D-did you kill them all?"
"No. The redhead managed to escape at the last second, but it will take him years to recover from the wounds I inflicted."
Adam said, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he had nearly wiped out one of the most powerful immortal emperors in a single blow.
Selene wanted to ask what had happened to him, but before she could, Adam collapsed.
"Adam!"
Selene caught him in her arms before he hit the ground.