Inside the vast, empty hall, Renith stood silently before the old man who possessed the power of “Deduction.” The air was thick with a suffocating tension, as if frozen solid — deathly quiet.
It was as though time itself had been paused. After a long while, Renith slowly raised her hand and removed her hood.
In an instant, the light-bending illusion she had maintained for so long dissipated. Her jet-black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, brushing against her porcelain cheeks that shimmered with a soft, milky luster. Her deep violet eyes swept across She Quan and the old man leaning against the wall, leisurely inhaling his Elven Leaf.
Another long silence passed before Renith finally spoke. Her voice was cool and clear.
“You can see the future somehow?”
The old man gave a slight nod, his face betraying no emotion.
“Quite a useful ability. You Transmigrators really do have all sorts of strange powers…”
Renith’s lips curved upward, revealing a meaningful smile.
“But that’s not your real sin, is it?”
The old man remained silent. He knew his true sin was his actual Divine Gift. “Deduction” was merely a byproduct of his exceptional talent, and there was no way he would reveal that truth to Renith so easily.
“Fine. Then tell me — why did you seek me out? What exactly do you want from me? Surely it’s not just to throw money at me or offer me a promotion? I seriously doubt you people have that kind of goodwill.”
Renith’s commanding presence suddenly intensified, forcing She Quan, who stood behind her, to retreat two steps. Although he possessed a Divine Gift, under the crushing weight of Renith’s aura, he remained nothing more than a mortal man.
“I only wish for you to not intervene. The victor in this battle can only be His Grace Corque.”
The old man finally spoke, his voice hoarse.
Understanding dawned in Renith’s mind. They had called her here, even promising high official positions and vast sums of money, all just to make her withdraw from the conflict in Möbius City.
That made the future this old man had “Deduced” all the more intriguing.
Why would the “Scholar” be willing to pay such a high price to stop Renith?
The answer was simple: Renith possessed the power to single-handedly change the outcome of the entire war.
Even Corque, a Marquess, had an extremely high probability of being killed by Renith in the old man’s “Deduction.”
“I think I understand now. But you do realize we are already enemies.”
“I know. Yet I must still stop you.”
A hint of grim resolve flickered in the old man’s eyes, as if he had already prepared himself for the worst possible outcome.
Renith placed her hand lightly on the codex at her waist. The old man watched her movement clearly — she was doing it deliberately, making her stance unmistakably clear.
“My apologies. No matter what you have seen… the path I’m about to take is definitely the worst possible one!”
The old man slowly closed his eyes. The three of them remained frozen in place.
Only when the Elven Leaf in his pipe had burned down to embers, making a soft hissing sound, did he open his eyes again. Then he slowly rose from the ground, his movements slow and steady.
She Quan had no idea what to do, his heart filled with unease.
Was this about to turn into a fight, or did they mean to negotiate further? He was just a hired worker — he wanted no part in the complicated and dangerous situation unfolding before him.
The old man pulled his long braid free from his clothes, then removed his upper garments, revealing an emaciated upper body, all skin and bones, so frail it seemed a single gust of wind could knock him over. He then tied his shirt around his waist.
“Nothing afterward matters. Only here, only this place, is the fork in the road of fate… If you insist on walking this path, then I can only do everything in my power to stop you here.”
“Though my strength does not match yours, of the fifty Great Ways, the forty-nine derivative paths of Heaven leave one path for Humanity to escape… it is not entirely hopeless!”
The old man’s voice reverberated throughout the great hall.
“My name is Man, Meng Jueluo… please grant me the honor of this contest.”
The old man bowed slightly, offering a salute that was both humble and dignified.
Renith did not reply. She simply stood there quietly, her eyes fixed firmly on Meng Jueluo, waiting for his next move.
With that, the old man before her bent his body forward. It was as if floodgates had been opened across every pore of his body, releasing a dense white smoke. It carried a faint, clean fragrance, yet underneath lay a subtle, sharp, and irritating odor. The white smoke spread rapidly, instantly engulfing the entire space.
At the same time, the divine statue on the surface seemed to be drawn by some mysterious force, slowly shifting its angle.
An alluring, intoxicating murmur carried by invisible white mist poured into this underground space, intermixing with the white smoke until the whiteness grew so thick it nearly obscured Renith’s vision.
Of course, this could not trouble her. The “Mage’s Eye” could track the flow of magical energy, and “Appraisal” could pluck the identity information of both She Quan and the old man from within the white fog.
Through Renith’s eyes, Meng Jueluo didn’t seem to be making any further moves. He just stood there quietly.
The known aspect of Meng Jueluo’s ability was the white smoke he had just expelled. This smoke was very similar to the scent of the Elven Leaf from before, but laced with a faint, unpleasant, and irritating odor.
Suspicion stirred within Renith.
Could it be poison?
She carefully felt for changes in her body, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Instead, she felt an unprecedented sense of calm.
No. It was this very calmness that made her realize something was wrong.
The Elven Leaf of the Elven race had healing properties. A small dose could produce a calming effect, but excessive use could cause trances, and even hallucinations.
This smoke was indeed strange!
Renith swiftly opened her codex, and Phyllove emerged from within it.
“Page 180 of the Sacred Canon. Wind Magic — Whirlwind.”
Phyllove’s voice echoed through the white mist.
As the words were spoken, an invisible wind began to stir and pulse within the gloomy underground space. The white smoke in the chamber was caught up and spun by the unseen gale, forming a massive vortex that gradually began to dissipate.
At that very moment, Meng Jueluo made his move.
His action was somewhat faster than Renith had anticipated, but still well within her reaction speed.
What surprised Renith, however, was that he was not running towards her. He was heading for the corner where She Quan was hiding.
“That thing!”
Meng Jueluo shouted, a barely perceptible trace of urgency in his voice.
She Quan seemed to understand immediately and pulled a statue from within his white robes. The statue was absorbing the invisible white mist from the air and emitting a faint white glow.
Though Renith did not know the function of this statue, she understood clearly that she could not let Meng Jueluo get his hands on it.
In the darkness, she could faintly discern that the statue bore a resemblance to the divine statue in front of the library. It was highly likely to be an artifact of that unknown deity, and it surely contained some unknown power.
“Divine Gift!”
Meng Jueluo glanced back at Renith, who was already making her move, and then shouted at She Quan again.
At Meng Jueluo’s urgent roar, She Quan immediately fixed his gaze on Renith. A book materialized from thin air in his hand, and with great difficulty, he began to write down Renith’s memories, from the most recent to the more distant.
Renith, who had been about to cast a spell, froze for an instant. Her pupils briefly lost their focus.
But in the very next second, she broke free. She had Tao Jin to thank for that; he had made her wary of these strange abilities, and even if caught off guard, she could now shake it off quickly.
“Page 14 of the Sacred Canon. Fire Magic — Scorching Flame.”
Phyllove cried out loudly. The ink-like script upon the codex instantly transformed into brilliant flames, a blazing sun that illuminated the darkness around Renith.
Just as Meng Jueluo’s fingers were about to touch the divine statue, the flames crashed to the ground.
But Meng Jueluo seemed to have anticipated this. He lunged forward, tackling She Quan to the ground.
Ignoring She Quan completely, Meng Jueluo snatched the statue from his hands and, using She Quan’s stomach as a stepping stool, slowly rose to his feet.
“Trembling hearts of men! Boundless heavens above! Walk the Great Path!”
Meng Jueluo’s voice boomed like a great bell, each word carrying immense power, echoing throughout the palace. As his words fell, an even denser white mist suddenly erupted from the statue and quickly coiled around the surface of his body.
In an instant, Meng Jueluo’s originally withered and gaunt frame seemed filled with boundless strength. His muscles tensed and bulged tightly, veins popping out across his skin.
This time, he easily leaped two meters in a single bound.
Renith was inwardly startled. In an instant, that statue had granted a frail old man power between the rank of a Baron and a Viscount?
Though this level of strength was not formidable in her eyes, such an abrupt and drastic increase made her even more curious about what exactly that statue he held was.
Feeling the surging power within his body and wreathed in white mist, Meng Jueluo threw a punch aimed at Renith. His fist howled through the air, carrying a fierce, sharp momentum that seemed ready to tear the very air apart.
Renith remained calm and quickly flipped open her codex. The voices of Phyllove and Renith echoed simultaneously through the great hall:
“Page 82 of the Sacred Canon. Earth Magic — Crushing Weight · Double.”
“Page 183 of the Sacred Canon. Wind Magic — Riding the Wind.”
Dissolving ink seeped into the earth beneath Renith’s feet like a nimble spirit. Under the powerful manipulation of magic, the ground on both sides surged upward, as if shaped by a pair of invisible giant hands, rapidly forming towering rock walls beneath Renith and Meng Jueluo.
Seizing this opportunity, Renith gracefully rode the wind and flew into the air, leaving Meng Jueluo trapped and tightly surrounded by the solid rocky cliffs.
Meng Jueluo had no way to escape now. He pressed both hands firmly against the stone walls, the veins on his forehead bulging, sweat sliding down his face like rain.
He spoke with great difficulty, a trace of bitterness in his voice:
“You truly live up to the name of a Demon, truly a Mage. Impressive… Even with the power of this statue, I still cannot match you.”
“My ‘Pharmaceutical Poison’ was completely neutralized by you. I had no chance to drive you into madness or hallucination.”
Helplessness filled Meng Jueluo’s eyes. He understood that his tricks were utterly insufficient in the face of Renith’s power.
“To be honest, I didn’t want to use this method. My body can’t handle it anymore. But… in my ‘Deduction,’ this is the only hope of killing you.”
Meng Jueluo gritted his teeth.
“I am a selfish man. But I have seen it. Under your call, countless armies marched toward the Imperial Capital. The Transmigrators were slaughtered nearly to the last. Although they have done wrong… many of them are still my compatriots.”
“I am a coward. In the past, I could do nothing. I could only watch helplessly as my family and country fell into ruin… Now, I suppose I am no longer running away?”
Meng Jueluo’s body began to tremble slightly, as if enduring immense pain.
