In the worldview of "Destiny", destiny traits have distinctions between innate and acquired.
Innate destiny traits are incredibly powerful, only possessed by those born with them or those who obtained some extraordinary opportunity.
One in ten million.
Acquired destiny traits are slightly inferior. Besides normal opportunities, the Three Gates trials would also stably grant one acquired destiny trait to examinees at each gate.
The two cannot be spoken of in the same breath.
Powerful innate destiny traits often bring systematic bonuses, like Shen Yao's [Ice Soul and Snow Spirit, Cold Muscles and Jade Bones], or Jiang He's [Tears of the Pearl in the Moonlit Sea]. These are destiny traits that systematically enhance their possessors, and their subsequent Three Gates trait selections in the game were all based on this foundation.
Some innate destiny traits are not like this.
But as compensation, their bonuses in singular aspects are unmatched!
Like Zhu Yan's [Death Extinguishes the Lamp]—as long as a life with soul strength lower than hers is observed by Zhu Yan at close range and she gently blows a breath, it would directly trigger an instant death judgment.
It could be called a divine assassination technique.
Another example is Mu Qinglan's [Crystal Wit], which can make her soul power far exceed those of the same level, even to the point where her physical body somewhat cannot bear it.
However, innate destiny traits are not easily detectable things. Many trait discoveries come with a touch of coincidence.
And souls are even more ethereal and elusive.
So even though Mu Qinglan had lived for so long, her Crystal Wit destiny trait had never been discovered by anyone.
But at this moment, it shone brilliantly.
Normally speaking, magicians have a universal cooldown when casting spells. It's impossible for you to move your little hand and simultaneously release one, two, three, four different spells—that would be too overpowered.
Only high-level magicians releasing low-level skills could do such things.
But for Mu Qinglan, all of this was not impossible.
The existence of [Crystal Wit] allowed her to cast up to three skills simultaneously—this was clearly written in the detailed menu after opening this destiny trait.
Mu Qinglan saw it.
So during this period, she had practiced all her skills to the maximum degree achievable in the short term.
The purpose was to give that lucky person she encountered in her debut battle a surprise.
This was also the source of her confidence in not needing Ah Qi's assistance.
And now...
Mu Qinglan squinted her eyes, the corners of her mouth slightly raised—it looked quite successful.
"You seem very surprised?"
She smiled faintly: "You clearly closed your eyes immediately upon seeing that strong light and assumed a defensive posture, so why were you still attacked? Why is my shadow magic so strong that it can tear off the limbs of an eighth-rank warrior like you?"
The white-haired girl spoke while slowly leaving the carriage, supported by shadows.
A burning light orb in her hand gradually dissipated.
When she first awakened and selected these three magician skills, Mu Qinglan had already conceived combo attacks these three skills could form. Now she was just applying them for the first time.
—First a flash, then manipulating the shadows created in that instant to attack.
Across from her, the black-clothed man's eyes were bloodshot, spitting blood foam from his mouth.
He did want to counterattack.
But to ensure nothing went wrong, Mu Qinglan had already used "Mechanist Arts" to control shadows to tear off all his limbs.
This assassin lord had ridden his horse very fast, closing his eyes without time to defend, and was instantly immobilized by Mu Qinglan's shadow magic that had been enhanced once by the [Shadow Affinity] destiny trait...
From extreme motion to extreme stillness, the tearing force that could be generated in that instant...
Tsk tsk.
Anyway, Mu Qinglan didn't want to try it.
At his speed, it was probably equivalent to jumping down from the roof of a several-story building? Mu Qinglan thought uncertainly.
"Ah..."
Lying on the ground, the black-clothed man felt like all his internal organs had shattered.
Didn't that defending general say the advisors here were all ninth-rank? She was actually stronger than the eighth-rank magicians he'd seen! With his strength, he was defeated in an instant...
Even without any ability to fight back?
"Do you... do you know who you've offended?"
His chest rose and fell continuously as he spoke with difficulty.
He naturally didn't dare to reveal the real mastermind, but it didn't prevent him from using other people's names to intimidate.
As long as the opponent hesitated, and after he caught his breath to send word, the organization would immediately dispatch seventh-rank warriors to silence her!
And they would uproot whoever was behind her too!
"The Emperor?"
Mu Qinglan said casually, looking completely indifferent.
The black-clothed man's pupils contracted. "How did you..."
"How do I know? Why shouldn't I know?" Mu Qinglan shook her head somewhat amusedly. "You've done quite a few things over the years, haven't you? Colluding with demons, assassinating court officials... all because of that Martial Emperor's single decree? But you really succeeded..."
She spoke bit by bit, her tone becoming increasingly calm.
And when she mentioned that Martial Emperor's name, her gaze was like looking at a dead person.
The night wind blew up his hat.
Revealing his eyes still filled with shock.
"So this is what you look like. I'll remember it." Mu Qinglan nodded. "Now then, you can go die."
Bang!
A muffled sound in the air.
As the words fell, Mu Qinglan slowly withdrew her virtually pressing arm, wiping her slender fingers meticulously as if nothing had happened, as though they were stained with something dirty.
That robust figure was crushed into dust.
Mu Qinglan didn't even glance in that direction, but instead turned to look toward the direction she came from, slowly revealing a meaningful smile.
"Ah Qi? Time to go."
"Understood!"
Ah Qi answered seriously, lightly leaping onto the girl's lap.
Shadows gradually climbed up the white-haired girl's delicate body along the wheelchair. The moment she was completely covered by shadows, one person and one cat vanished into thin air.
The moonlight was bright, and the official road remained tranquil.
Only the pack horse's neighing remained.
○
"Hiss..."
Looking at the chess game before him, General Meng Yuan, the defending general of Dingwu City, smiled and complimented:
"Worthy of being a demon expert—even on the chessboard you're one step ahead of me. Heh, you're quite an interesting person."
Across from him, the demon male playing chess with him was in a good mood and proactively asked:
"City Lord Meng is here playing chess with me instead of worrying that Prince Qi will blame you for poor performance afterward?
For this ambush, all the nearby experts of my clan have mobilized. The Earth Boundary experts are stretched thin, and even someone like me at seventh rank has the honor to participate, stationed here on your side without issues. Prince Qi's family members will surely die. Aren't you worried he'll blame you?"
City Lord Meng, who was cleaning up the chess pieces, shook his head:
"Sir, you worry too much. Right now I'm diligently handling official documents, doing my best to relay messages. I was even severely injured by you demons while secretly leaving the city to deliver messages tonight. How could Lord Prince Qi blame me?"
The demon listening on the side felt this person's methods were truly ruthless, yet also felt the human royal family was the truly heartless one.
A dignified second-rank great general—to move against him just like that?
This was a pillar of the nation!
If this weren't internal human affairs, and if the demon clan's available forces beyond what that Prince Qi could mobilize weren't stretched so thin, he wouldn't even have the qualifications to participate in this operation, let alone learn these chilling truths.
At this moment, Meng Yuan finished cleaning up the chess pieces on the table and was about to continue speaking.
But he suddenly heard a soft and tender voice.
"Prince Qi indeed won't blame you, but I do."
City Lord Meng was startled.
"Who?"
The demon male also instantly turned to look.
Suddenly appearing in this city lord's study was a white-haired girl sitting in a wheelchair, her complexion slightly pale, looking about sixteen or seventeen years old.
"You are... the advisor who went out to deliver messages earlier? Why are you here!"
City Lord Meng frowned and thought for several seconds before remembering who the other party was, scolding sternly.
For some reason, he felt uneasy.
"I just kept thinking it was strange—why would Prince Qi's family members be discovered by demons? So I couldn't help but come back to take a look.
I really didn't expect..."
The white-haired girl smiled lightly and shook her head.
"..."
Meng Yuan frowned. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't understand how this advisor who had previously seemed completely ordinary had the guts to speak to him in such a sarcastic tone.
Weren't you ninth rank?
With that strength, aren't you worried about being silenced?
Are you really an idiot, or...
Do you have something to rely on?
"Brother Meng, why waste words? She's just ninth rank—kill her and be done with it!"
The demon male's gaze was cold.
Meng Yuan was uncertain, but that demon male couldn't be bothered to think so much. He only knew that the orders from his clan were to eliminate any possibility of information getting out!
Wasn't this exactly what he was here to do?
"Stop playing mysterious..."
The demon male stepped forward with a dark expression.
However, the moment his foot touched down, his body instantly froze, and even the words he was saying halfway through abruptly stopped, like an old cassette tape that had been hit with a pause button.
Fear swept through his body, making him tremble all over.
But what truly made him stand in place as if covered in plaster wasn't this.
It was shadows—
Dense shadows that silently crept up from the floor like vines, soundlessly covering his entire body.
What is...
What is this?!!
Why... why can't he move at all now?
The demon male's eyes bulged with fury, veins popping all over his body, blood flowing frantically.
He swore he had never exerted himself so forcefully, so recklessly in mobilizing his power. Right now, he could even punch through a small mountain with one blow! But the shadows covering his body seemed completely indifferent to this.
Completely ignoring his struggles, the shadows as cold as winter lake water slowly lifted him up.
"Mama."
The black cat's voice on her shoulder was light and soft, but at this moment, to the demon male's ears, it sounded as terrifying as something from the Nine Nether Demon Realm!
"Ah Qi did very well—even a seventh-rank demon caught off guard is no match for you."
The white-haired girl smiled.
Hearing this, the black cat straightened up, her tail unconsciously swaying back and forth behind her, almost spinning like an electric fan.
How could this be...?
Not far away, Meng Yuan instinctively stepped back, unable to comprehend the scene unfolding before his eyes.
That person—wasn't she just an ordinary ninth rank before? How could she...
Just then, Mu Qinglan glanced at him coldly.
Terrifying pressure swept over him.
City Lord Meng uncontrollably lowered his head, suddenly feeling a strong urge to crawl and kneel on the ground. A dense feeling of suffocation grasped his heart like a hand, making him not even dare to raise his courage to lift his head and meet her gaze.
This absolutely wasn't that person!!
Even though she looked exactly the same, he could be certain this definitely wasn't the same person!
With those eyes! Those terrifying, as-if-everything-else-were-mere-clowns, high-and-mighty eyes—how could a ninth rank possibly possess such a gaze!
Crack—
"Ahh!!"
With two crisp sounds, as if something was being snapped, Meng Yuan collapsed to the ground.
The intense pain from his calves made cold sweat pour from his forehead uncontrollably.
He was just a civil official—only reaching eighth rank by his thirties. Where had he ever endured such torture?
"Are there other demons here?"
The white-haired girl's voice was cold as ice.
"Yes! There are! Besides him, there are two more in the adjacent room!" Meng Yuan screamed out of control, completely disregarding his previous alliance with the demons.
In the face of life and death, what could allies amount to!
"?!"
The demon's expression changed, but before he could say anything, he was completely devoured by darkness.
Having received her answer, the white-haired girl didn't spare him either.
She just continued her cold interrogation:
"Who ordered you to do this?"
Even though Mu Qinglan already had the answer in her heart, for the sake of the dungeon rating, she still had to interrogate this tear-and-snot-covered man who had lost all dignity as a general once more.
The man hesitated for an instant.
But the shadows showed no hesitation in continuing to snap his arms!
"It was His Majesty! It was His Majesty the Martial Emperor!"
Creak—
After the horrified head rotated three hundred sixty degrees in place, it hung down powerlessly.
"You lived more than ten years longer... so I'll collect some interest first. Don't worry. When I return to reality, I'll find you... and at that time, I'll give you a surprise."
Mu Qinglan's eyelids slightly lowered, not paying attention to his death state. Two seconds later, the black cat obediently jumped out and said:
"Mama, everything's been taken care of."
"Ah Qi is truly capable."
"Capable!"
"Thanks to Ah Qi this time. As for the rest, let's talk about it when we get home."
Mu Qinglan composed her expression and smiled, while the black cat also obediently leaped into her shadow with small steps. At the end, she looked back reluctantly.
The bad woman responded with a smile.
However, she sighed softly in her heart.
'Martial Emperor…'