Chapter 460: As Expected, Not Easy to Fool!
Lu Yuliu propped up her small face with her hands, looking at the two people in front of her.
Her attention first settled on Miss Kirin.
That appearance… there was no mistake. This, too, was another incarnation of the Empress.
Having already seen the Empress's incarnation in the space where the Trial of Ascension Platform was now located, the Sword Fairy was far less shocked upon seeing this one.
If one incarnation could be split off, then splitting off another didn't seem completely unacceptable.
And perhaps it was just her imagination, but Little Yuli felt that this incarnation of the Empress gave her an inexplicable sense of closeness.
It was as if… she and the other party shared some kind of similar experience in a certain respect?
Her intuition told her that she could become a "kindred spirit" with this incarnation of the Empress.
Aside from that, she was actually extremely curious about this incarnation technique of the Empress—one that was almost indistinguishable from the original body.
This was the first time she had ever seen such a perfect incarnation.
In the Sword Sect's inheritance, there was also an incarnation technique that could be used after reaching the Nascent Soul realm, but that method not only had distance limitations—it also couldn't exist in different spaces. Otherwise, once the connection was severed, the incarnation would dissipate. It was worlds apart from the Empress's incarnation, which was practically no different from a real person.
'If only I had such a perfect incarnation technique too…'
She didn't need many—just one would be enough. Then, when her true body followed her master to cultivate, her incarnation could…
The young girl quietly glanced at the Demon Sect Holy Saint not far away, who seemed to be in a sleeping state.
Then she turned her gaze to Bai Xiaoyao.
To be honest, ever since they had jointly dealt with that peak stage Golden Core realm Netherkin, Lu Yuliu had felt that something about this Holy Maiden was… off.
Not long ago, Xiaoyao had even coaxed her into sending a baffling message to Luo Wusheng using the short wooden sword.
She had originally refused, but the other party had produced a reason she simply couldn't reject.
More than a month ago… because of the Blood Spirit Jade incident, Lu Yuliu had owed this Demon Sect Holy Maiden three favors that did not violate her own principles.
The first favor had been to go together to the ruins of the Ancient Heavenly Gate, and this time, Bai Xiaoyao had invoked the second one.
And this favor, in a sense, was merely sending two messages that, at first glance, didn't seem to have any real downsides. It truly didn't count as going against her conscience…
'But why send that particular message? I don't have any "surprises" at all. And if it's just Bai Xiaoyao who wants to give that guy a surprise, why drag me into it?'
—Had she really been overstimulated?
Lu Yuliu fell into deep thought.
She could more or less guess the reason for the Holy Maiden's change.
At the moment they faced a peak stage Nascent Soul Netherkin, both she and the Demon Sect Holy Maiden had made the same choice.
They had used the power of a single strike sealed by a certain Demon Sect Holy Saint within a piece of jade.
Although she herself had been momentarily stunned by that scene, she had quickly recovered.
After all, Bai Xiaoyao was that guy's junior sister. Given his temperament, it would actually be abnormal if he hadn't left such a trump card for the Holy Maiden.
And leaving that single-strike power inside the Star-Moon Jade accessory worn by Bai Xiaoyao was also very much his style.
The only problem was that a certain Holy Maiden seemed unable to accept that he had also given her such a method?
The Sword Fairy recalled the look on Bai Xiaoyao's face after she had used the power sealed within the Star-Moon Jade.
It had been so dark it was frightening.
She had looked as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing at all.
She had only silently clenched that hair ornament and, in the south of the royal city, set a record for the highest number of Foundation Establishment and ordinary Golden Core Netherkin she had personally smashed to death on the spot.
Still, the fact that Bai Xiaoyao hadn't asked anything at all also allowed the Sword Fairy to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
The way she had obtained the Star-Moon Jade was not something she could share with others.
She definitely didn't want to socially die on the spot.
...
Kirin slowly calmed the turbulent emotions rising and falling within her.
She had originally thought she would leave this space directly and arrive in the real world, so earlier she hadn't put her mask back on…
Her reasoning was that, at the moment she left the space, she would immediately merge the three Alter Ego with her Imperial Alter Ego and Daoist Alter Ego. In that situation, wearing a mask would only be inconvenient—and if someone noticed something unusual, it would become even more troublesome.
Now, the Netherkin race's purpose in acting against her Mortal Alter Ego was still unknown. Rather than giving others a chance to lock onto her identity, it was better to simply reveal her true appearance and leave them with nothing to speculate about.
What Kirin hadn't expected, however, was for things to develop into their current state.
Now, whenever she thought of her farewell speech just moments ago, coupled with that kiss meant to leave no regrets in case something unexpected happened, her brain started trembling violently.
Fortunately, she had already experienced an even more terrifying bout of social death earlier today, which had given her plenty of practice in controlling this kind of emotion.
Otherwise, there was a real chance that the two girls in front of her would have noticed something off!
As for now, she has temporarily accepted her situation…
Judging from the memories synchronized from her Imperial Alter Ego, the outside world could still hold on for a short while longer. She still had a chance.
Before that, however, she needed to clear up the doubts of the two people in front of her.
But first, she had to come up with an appropriate explanation…
So, Kirin met the Demon Sect Holy Maiden's gaze—one that now carried an inexplicably intense pressure.
"…Compared to this side of things, I'm more interested in why you two have appeared here."
With her true appearance exposed, Kirin naturally couldn't report herself as the Six Gate Bureau Golden Ranked member under her Mortal Alter Ego, so she decisively chose to play the role of her Imperial Alter Ego's "alt account," just like her Daoist Alter Ego did.
Moreover, in the process, she carefully adopted the world-dominating, imperial bearing of her Imperial Alter Ego, using it to defuse the pressure brought by the Holy Maiden's strangely probing gaze.
"Huh? Wasn't it because of you, Your Majesty?"
Lu Yuliu tilted her head. "We were originally going to leave the south of the royal city through the connection we left on the Trial of Ascension Platform and return to the contested seats on the Human Immortal List, but for some reason we ended up in this space instead."
When she saw the Empress's incarnation, she had even thought that the Empress had done something to the platform.
"The situation the royal city is facing right now is beyond our level—we can no longer be of use there," Bai Xiaoyao added in a flat voice. Yet her gaze remained firmly fixed on Kirin, scanning her up and down, as if searching for something.
Kirin wasn't actually surprised by this answer, as she had already learned a bit from the memories synchronized from her Imperial Alter Ego.
The fighting on the lower-tier battlefield of the royal city had already ended; the two girls' mission was complete.
She simply hadn't expected that they would be dragged into this place while attempting to return to the space where the Ascension Platform was…
Was there some connection in between?
She cast a sidelong glance at Luo Wusheng not far away, then cleared her throat.
"Ahem— I see. In that case, I understand. You may indeed have been affected by this place."
Kirin weighed her words carefully before speaking again, slowly and deliberately:
"The situation here is somewhat complicated. I'll try to keep it brief."
She gestured to the surrounding space.
"This place is the hidden space the Netherkin race concealed while lurking within the royal city."
"For certain reasons, my true body split off this incarnation to come here with Pavilion Head Luo, in order to erase the Netherkin race's additional arrangements…"
"As for the specifics, Pavilion Head Luo understands them better. But you should also be able to see that something is wrong with his current condition."
"What's wrong with him?" Lu Yuliu asked immediately.
Ever since she had seen Luo Wusheng lying there as if asleep, she had wanted to ask that question.
It was just that, when facing the "Empress," she still felt somewhat restrained, and for a moment she hadn't been able to bring herself to ask.
'Huh? The Demon Sect Holy Maiden didn't react? Shouldn't she be curious—and worried—about her senior brother's condition?'
Kirin had originally expected Bai Xiaoyao, as Luo Wusheng junior sister, to be the first to speak up and ask.
In her memories, the relationship between this pair of senior and junior siblings should have been quite good.
Sensing that something was off, Kirin immediately focused her attention on Bai Xiaoyao's reactions.
Then she noticed that, after her words, a look of concern instinctively surfaced on the famous Holy Maiden's face. Her gaze couldn't help but drift aside, and she even showed signs of wanting to speak up and ask…
But very quickly, all of these subtle movements froze at the same time. Next, a hint of embarrassment and annoyance flashed through those beautiful eyes, which then turned into something like an indignant "exasperation at someone who refuses to improve."
In the end, she forcibly twisted her neck back—ever so slightly and without leaving any trace—clenched her silver teeth, and withdrew every trace of emotional fluctuation from her face.
Kirin was stunned.
It was her first time seeing such a smooth, complex shift of expressions.
Also, today's Demon Sect Holy Maiden was indeed acting strangely.
Just earlier, when the Imperial Alter Ego had been discussing plans to deal with the Netherkin chaos with her, she hadn't been like this at all, had she?
Kirin thought about it for a moment, but quickly cast those thoughts aside… Her own situation right now really didn't allow her to be distracted by others.
So she returned to the previous topic.
"Pavilion Head Luo used a special method to obtain the ability to open spatial passages within this space… but something went wrong while he was preparing to open a passage from inside this space to the real world, causing him to fall into a state like this—almost as if he were asleep."
"However, this state is somewhat special. In his unconscious state, he seems to still be able to exert some influence over this space. Just like earlier—he opened a spatial passage, and as a result, inadvertently drew you two in."
Kirin's tone barely fluctuated.
What she was describing was basically the truth—she had only concealed certain details. Yet the associations she guided them toward had already deviated greatly from the actual facts.
With that, the situation here could be considered more or less explained… Under normal circumstances, this information should have been enough to cover up the earlier panic she had exposed.
But at that moment, Bai Xiaoyao, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke in a calm voice.
"So that's how it is. My appearance here with Sister Yuli wasn't within Your Majesty's expectations… which is why Your Majesty ended up colliding with Sister Yuli earlier?"
As she said this, she also seemed to mutter to herself in a low voice—one that everyone present could hear:
"Strange. With Your Majesty's cultivation, even if this is only an incarnation, unless your mind was unguarded, you shouldn't have failed to sense our arrival, right?"
Kirin: "..."
As expected of the Demon Sect Holy Maiden—she really wasn't that easy to fool!
"That truly was a moment of oversight on my part… In fact, during my cooperation with Pavilion Head Luo earlier, this incarnation obtained something crucial for resolving the Netherkin chaos, but it must return to my true body in order to be used. When Pavilion Head Luo opened the spatial passage earlier, I sensed the aura of the real world and thought I could return immediately. I didn't expect that, in my impatience, I would make an erroneous judgment…"
Kirin immediately patched things up.
Bai Xiaoyao gave a light nod, as if she understood, and said, "I didn't expect Your Majesty to be in such a hurry."
"No wonder," she added casually, "you even forgot to return the clothes you borrowed from my senior brother?"
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Cultivation Realm:
1, Qi Refining
2, Foundation Establishment
3, Golden Core
4, Nascent Soul
5, Divine Transformation (Formerly Known as Tribulation Crossing)
6, Tribulation Transcendence
7, Land Immortal
Note: Link to the character Illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 571: To See or Not to See?[1]
Link: https://www.patreon.com/u93297024/posts/chapter-571-to-163855664[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/u93297024/posts/chapter-571-to-163855664
[2] https://www.patreon.com/u93297024/posts/chapter-571-to-163855664