On the second floor of the villa, Asho’s study was almost turning into a tree, like a forest tombstone. Every branch was as hard as steel, and every leaf absorbed his artificing.
This was a very powerful Senro miracle. It was known that the Senro faction had always focused on creation and production. This miracle was exceptionally fierce, combining multiple effects such as imprisonment, killing, and weakening.
Xilin, who was over two hundred years old, was a Second Wing Sorcerer. This was not uncommon. Faction realm was the most ruthless assessment, like a barrier that blocked all talents and opportunities. Hard work meant nothing to sorcerers because hard work was the foundation of being a sorcerer. However, without talent, no matter how long you lived or how hard you worked, you could never reach higher levels.
Although he couldn’t see the higher scenery, Xilin could appreciate the towering ancient trees, the venomous stings of bees, the hiddenness of spiders, and the hidden dangers of plants because he had ample time.
All resources would be converted into the sorcerer’s power, including time.
Asho didn’t underestimate Xilin just because they were both Second Wing Sorcerers, not now and not before. But time was not on his side. As time passed, the Falconer Hall would find him more easily. He discovered that the hunting hall had already begun a large-scale investigation of the lower districts and the pig district.
Although Furia’s home was in the Gentle Town, it was also his death trap.
He had to obtain the necessary information as soon as possible, and Professor Xilin was his only choice. He knew he was gambling with his life before he came. After all, life was just a more important chip, and when it was time to bet, he had to bet.
And how important was this chip to him?
This was not a familiar gambling game for him, and he was not facing familiar gamblers. If he wasn’t afraid of being picked up by someone, he might have wanted to throw away this chip a long time ago.
Asho lowered his eyelids and squinted as if he were asleep.
His voice became loud and steady, as if he were the master here. “So, have you made a decision, Professor Xilin?”
Xilin walked around him and muttered, “Since Heath is no longer here, I naturally don’t need to continue to serve him or carry out his orders. I am now a free Blood Moon Elf.”
“But your existence is still a huge threat. No one can guarantee that Heath won’t resurrect again, bringing with him mountains of corpses and seas of blood, returning like lightning.”
“But you won’t kill me.” Asho said calmly, “After you found out that I’m not Heath, not only did you not want to kill me, but you even have to protect my life.”
After careful consideration, Asho knew that he was not in any danger at all.
If he were really Heath, Xilin would have to follow orders and assassinate him, but Heath also had a way to control Xilin. And if he wasn’t Heath, Xilin was already free from his control and naturally had no reason to kill him.
Perhaps someone would wonder if Xilin, who was controlled by Heath, wouldn’t hate the proxy Asho and want to destroy him as well?
Of course not. If revenge was the only thing on Xilin’s mind, he would have crushed him like a peach earlier.
But Xilin was afraid.
“Yes.” Xilin stopped behind Asho, his voice trembling. “Since Heath wants you dead, you have to stay alive, even if it means barely surviving, even if it means living worse than death!”
Asho asked, “Do you know why Heath wants to kill me?”
“I don’t know, but you are so weak, so ignorant, so insignificant, it can only mean one thing…”
Xilin walked up to Asho and pointed his index finger at Asho’s forehead. “The ritual is not complete yet. You are not a complete ‘Touch’. You are just a half-finished product.”
“Only by killing you can the ritual be completed, and Heath’s fantasy can come to this world.”
Asho looked at Xilin’s finger. “What is a ‘Touch’? What will happen after I die?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know!”
Xilin grabbed his hair in despair. “That is the secret of the Four Pillar God, the ritual that only Heath can fully understand! Heath only told the believers that he is not yet a complete ‘Touch’. When the ritual is complete, he will return from suffering, be freed from honor, fall from the sky, rise from the grave, and become a ‘Touch’ that surpasses everything! Then… he will freely manipulate the world!”
“It sounds like after the ritual is complete, I should be able to surpass the so-called Four Wing Sorcerers.” Asho’s mouth slightly curled up. “So, if you kill me, I will become… an existence that can rival the Blood Moon Sovereign?”
Xilin stared at Asho with a cold gaze. “You won’t have that chance.”
Asho whispered softly, “Then, are you going to hand me over to the Falconer Hall?”
“No, absolutely not. Jielade might kill you, and the Blood Moon Judgment will definitely take your life… I can’t hand you over!” Xilin shook his head vigorously, as if trying to shake off a fly. “The arrogant Blood Saint Clan only wants to study you, and the stubborn Moon Shadow Clan doesn’t care about you!”
“Only I know the seriousness of your situation. Only I can do this… only me…”
Xilin softly uttered demonic words, “Cut off your limbs, lock you in a puppet box, and place you in the deepest basement of the third underground floor, only using an infusion tube to sustain your basic life…”
Yes, that’s it.
Asho’s heart was calm, and he was satisfied with Xilin’s decision. If Xilin really handed him over to the Falconer Hall, Asho would never be able to escape again. Even the dumbest prison knew to guard against his purification miracle.
Without saying anything else, just changing the frequency of sending Asho’s life signature from every ten minutes to every second would be enough. Asho would remove the chip in the front, and Jielade would arrive at Lake Shattered.
No matter how many obstacles Xilin added in the outside world, it wouldn’t be as straightforward as the chip prohibition. Asho didn’t care about physical disabilities. As long as he could enter the Virtual Realm, he would eventually have the strength to break through.
Moreover, Asho didn’t really lose all his ability to resist now.Skills like Substitute, Heart Sword, and Miracle Slash, which Asho had completely mastered, he could activate without the need for Artificing.
However, this tree had completely restrained his mobility, and any resistance now would be futile.
The best opportunity for him to escape would be when Xilin was preparing to move him. He had followed Gesas all the way here and had observed the surrounding security situation. If Xilin wanted to kill him, he would kill the surrounding guards and draw the hunters over.
The hunters wanted to kill me, and Xilin wanted to protect my life. If handled properly, it could even trigger a conflict between Xilin and the hunters. If it caused large-scale casualties, I could also use Fenanche’s speech a few days ago to ignite racial conflicts and class contradictions, and then… One by one, thoughts spun up and extinguished in Asho’s mind, forming a rudimentary conspiracy in no time.
The worst-case scenario would be him being imprisoned in the basement, becoming an immobile doll in a box, with only the sound of a heartbeat left in the world.
Asho was not disturbed by the tragic fate he was about to face, not nervous, not afraid, not excited.
It was as if he had detached himself from this body and was quietly appreciating the fate of ‘Asho Heath’.
Pain, loneliness, and torment could not shake his will, because in his world…
In his world…
…there was still Sword Girl?
His thoughts were interrupted here, and Asho suddenly jolted, his pupils regaining their luster.
It was hard to describe this feeling. It was as if Asho was about to fly and transcend this world, but suddenly a string pulled him down, causing him to fall hard to the ground. Then the sound of air flowing, the fragrance of soil, the pulse of heartbeat, all sensations rushed into his mind.
It was as if Asho had just fallen asleep, and now he had finally woken up.
At this moment, Xilin suddenly made a strange noise.
“Xilin Dor, you can’t escape.” He murmured softly, “You are free now, you can’t run away anymore.”
The elf took out a blackwood dagger from the drawer, walked up to Asho, held the dagger upside down, and gently pushed—
It pierced his own throat.
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