Chapter 575: The Second Emissary, The Lone Harbinger.
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Somewhere deep inside a dark forest, a battered figure leaned heavily against a tree.
Peng Jianwei’s body was a mess.
His right arm was completely missing, the wound roughly sealed by residual energy, and the rest of him was covered in injuries severe enough that each breath came out rough and uneven.
Blood stained what remained of his clothes, and his usually composed posture had been reduced to someone barely keeping himself upright.
Even so, his mind and eyes was clear.
Through the pain wracking his body, he had finally felt for himself the terrifying might of a true Body Cultivator.
With that broken body of his, he now understood far more clearly why their kind had ruled the previous era before spirit cultivation rose to prominence.
But what filled him with the most anger... was the fact that he had been saved.
His expression twisted as he turned toward the darkness ahead and shouted furiously,
"Lone Harbinger!!! Why did you save me!?"
His voice tore through the quiet forest.
"Didn’t I tell you to wait and kill the immortal who might interfere!?"
His rough breathing filled the dark forest as anger continued to burn through his battered body.
He had foreseen everything.
Even though he could not see Li Feng’s future or fate, he had always been a cautious man.
In order to push Li Feng to his absolute limit, he had gone as far as accounting for the possibility that some powerful expert might be waiting to help or interfere with the grand stage he had so carefully prepared.
And the most powerful kind of existence he could think of at present... was a remnant immortal.
That was exactly why he had placed the Lone Harbinger... the Immortal Killer in position, ready to strike if such a variable truly appeared.
Despite ranking higher than the Lone Harbinger, in terms of pure killing power and strength... no one in the sect even came close to the Second Emissary.
After all, that fellow was truly a monster who had reached far beyond the Nascent Soul realm.
But no one could control the Lone Harbinger, as their only interest was to hunt down and kill remnant immortals.
And yet...!
From the darkness ahead, a figure slowly emerged.
A tall, hooded presence stepped into view, wrapped in a tattered black cloak that fluttered under the pressure of the surrounding dark red energy.
Beneath the deep hood, no face could be seen... only an oppressive darkness.
In one hand, the figure held a long spear of jagged crimson crystal, its blade glowing with a cold, blood-red light that cut sharply through the gloom of the forest.
Dark red energy coiled around the cloaked form like living mist, rising and twisting behind it in violent arcs.
The air grew heavier with every step it took, as though the forest itself recognized the arrival of something meant for slaughter.
It was the Second Emissary.
...The Lone Harbinger.
The so-called Immortal Killer came to a stop before the battered Peng Jianwei, the tip of that crimson spear lowering slightly toward the ground as the faceless hood turned in his direction.
Seeing the figure, Peng Jianwei’s anger flared again.
"Why didn’t you act according to our agreement!?" he shouted, still leaning heavily against the tree.
"Tell me!"
But then a calm yet distorted voice answered from beneath the hood.
[Because there was no remnant immortal there.]
Hearing this, Peng Jianwei’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Who else could reverse time and restore everything so perfectly if not an immortal?
For a moment he simply froze there against the tree, the weight of that answer sinking in deeper than his injuries.
Seeing him stunned, the Lone Harbinger continued in the same distorted voice.
[Since there was no immortal present, there was no need for me to act... beyond saving your life.]
That finally snapped Peng Jianwei out of his daze.
"You think I would really die!?" he shouted, voice rough with anger and pain. "Even without your interference, I could have escaped their trap—"
The cloaked figure showed no interest in the argument.
It simply turned away, the tattered black cloak shifting under the residual red energy as the distorted voice spoke one last time.
[With this, my favor to you is even.]
In the next instant, the oppressive figure vanished into thin air, leaving only the dark forest and the battered Peng Jianwei behind.
For a brief moment, there was only silence.
Then Peng Jianwei snapped.
A furious roar tore from his throat as the last of his restraint collapsed.
Despite his missing arm and the injuries covering his body, violent spatial energy exploded outward from him without control.
BOOOOMMM!!!
Trees in the surrounding forest were ripped apart.
The ground split open.
Rocks shattered into dust as shockwaves tore through the darkened woods, reducing everything nearby to chaos and destruction.
He went completely berserk, wrecking the surroundings in a blind rage.
Then Peng Jianwei collapsed against the broken remains of a tree, his breathing ragged, the fury draining into something far more twisted and fragile.
Tears spilled down his face as his shoulders trembled.
And between choked sobs, a broken murmur escaped him.
"...I’m sorry, Brother Li..."
His voice cracked.
"Hic... hic... if I were better... I would have made the greatest... the grandest stage for you..."
More tears fell as he forced the rest out.
"...Then... I could have seen things I had never seen before...!"
His broken voice spilled into the ruined forest as more tears fell.
To him, Li Feng’s existence was like a darkness in a world of light.
Everything he saw had always been predetermined.
Every path, every outcome, every rise and fall... already known, already measured, already dull in its completeness.
No matter how grand the schemes of others appeared, they were still only pieces moving inside a picture he had already seen to the end.
...But Li Feng was different.
That man was a blind spot.
A living rupture in the future.
An ever-changing darkness that his sight could not illuminate, no matter how far into the future he looked.
And it was precisely because of that unknown that Peng Jianwei had become so obsessed... so desperate to build a stage grand enough to force that darkness into view.
And to turn the entire path and fate into chaos!
Just then, a dark cube suddenly appeared and hovered around him, drifting close in a clearly worried manner.
Peng Jianwei went silent for a moment as he looked at it.
Then he murmured, voice still rough from crying,
"...Yes. You’re right."
He let out a weak breath.
"It seems I’ve become too dulled... and overconfident in myself. I need to get stronger."
As if those words had pulled him back together, the broken despair in his expression gradually gave way to something sharper.
Resolve, long buried under arrogance and calculation, ignited once more.
He slowly pushed himself up from the ruined ground, wiped the tears from his face with his remaining hand, and smiled as he looked back toward the distant direction of the capital.
"...Just you wait, Brother Li."
His voice was quiet, but firm.
"I will make sure the next stage will be the grandest you will ever see..."
Then, remembering something, he sighed and murmured,
"Your wish has been fulfilled... Farewell, Young Miss Zi."
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[Here an Illustration of the Lone Harbinger:]