Chapter Sixty-Nine: Identity

“Who?”

Tu Lu’s eyelid twitched.

But when he opened his mouth, he realized his voice had grown hoarse from long silence.

“Tai Xu Mansion, the Master Zhen Ling,” Zi Ling replied bitterly.

“M-Master?”

Tu Lu’s eyes widened slightly.

“That’s me,” Zi Ling hesitated for a moment, but then, as if something occurred to her, she spoke calmly.

“What!”

Tu Lu sprang to his feet.

“What do you mean?”

Even in such dire circumstances, her words stunned him.

Zi Ling narrowed her eyes, then let out a muted laugh.

“I imagine you’ve heard the rumors—how at ten I shattered the Violet Mansion, and at twenty-one ascended to the Realm of Transformation.”

Tu Lu nodded.

He had known, but hearing it again sent a fresh wave of awe through him.

Yet Zi Ling slowly shook her head.

“The rumors aren’t false, but they’re not as frightening as they sound. Talent is one thing, but the key was a cultivation method—my Intent Dividing Technique.”

Zi Ling gave a bitter smile. “The Intent Dividing Technique—a genius creation. It allows one to strip away all memories, emotions, every trace of passion, and store them in a separate body. The main body, left free of all distractions, cultivates in a perpetual state of enlightenment.”

She sighed.

“I was born with an Ice Soul and a Sword Embryo. With constant enlightenment, my progress was naturally swift, extraordinary, beyond compare. So it was my body—and a soul devoid of memory and feeling—that broke through to the Realm of Transformation, while my true memories and emotions remain in this body, with only half a step into the Violet Mansion’s cultivation.”

“That body knows only cultivation, almost nothing else. She wouldn’t understand why saving us matters. If my avatar were outside, I could direct her to act, but in the world of the Flowing Sands, it’s impossible.”

At this, Zi Ling bowed her head completely.

Tu Lu’s mind buzzed with shock. Had they not been trapped in this desperate place, he might have lost his composure entirely.

Zi Ling—she’s actually the Master of Tai Xu Mansion!

And compared with the one now in Tai Xu Mansion, the true self—the one with memory, feeling, and thought—was here before him.

“But if you fall here…” he couldn’t help but ask.

Zi Ling shook her head with a bitter smile.

“I know what you’re thinking. Very few know my secret, and those who do value the half-step Realm of Transformation body bearing the Zhen family bloodline. Perhaps only my father and teacher care about this avatar.”

But the shock in Tu Lu’s eyes did not fade.

He understood now. No matter how extraordinary Zi Ling’s identity, it wouldn’t necessarily improve their predicament.

Zi Tuo Peak didn’t know her identity; even if they did, they wouldn’t care.

As for those who did know, they weren’t even aware she was trapped in the Flowing Sands Secret Realm.

The two sat in silence for a while, until Zi Ling suddenly spoke:

“Tu Lu, it was I who brought you here. Though it’s late for such words, do you have any regrets? I’ll try to relay them to the main body. I can’t promise she’ll fulfill them, but I’ll do my best…”

Tu Lu shook his head, cutting her off.

“We might not die yet—what’s the point in talking regrets?”

“Forgive me, I misspoke. Then… wishes. Do you have any wishes?”

“Wishes…”

Tu Lu exhaled deeply, lifted his head, and his mind drifted.

“I want to see my sister, nothing more. But if we can’t get out, it’s pointless. As for here…”

His gaze returned to Zi Ling, and their eyes met.

Unconsciously, his heart thudded faster, and a bold idea began to take shape.

“I… want to see your face beneath the veil.”

The air grew still.

Both Tu Lu and Zi Ling fell silent, the expression on Zi Ling’s face suddenly frozen.