Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

When the man in the mask and long robe sat up from the coffin, an incredibly magical scene had already unfolded on Lake Island.

Lake Island collapsed.

The debris and clumps of earth that sank into the darkness were now, at this moment, suspended in midair.

It was as if someone had pressed a pause button on time.

All the water from the lake was converging toward this spot, and the collapsing Lake Island seemed to have created an opening on the surface of the lake that could not be filled, no matter how much water poured into it.

Everything was being devoured.

Minette too, was suspended in the air.

She widened her eyes, staring at the masked man, and with a trembling voice, she asked tentatively, "Du Wei? Is that you?"

The Envelope, however, was violently twitching: "That's definitely not the master."

An envelope had appeared, along with a stronger dark shadow.

From this, one could infer that the other party is likely the Du Wei of the past, otherwise, it would be hard to explain the current situation, but if that were the case, then he couldn't possibly be the present Du Wei.

However.

The Envelope, as if it had come to a realization, was thinking of one thing.

"The master once said that it doesn't read the minds of those from the Vanity Sect because it is impossible for two of it to exist at the same point in time."

So it couldn't be possible.

They were all imposters.

But the next second.

The first words spoken by the man who sat up from the coffin caused the Envelope's thoughts to waver.

"Minette, you should not be here."

"And Envelope, the past cannot be changed. Go back, let it go back as well."

"What has happened, must happen again."

"A tree produces but one seed in its lifetime, that seed endlessly repeats life and death, with every repetition being itself, yet every repetition also not being itself."

His voice revealed weariness and vicissitudes as if he had lived through a long solitude, watching things he cared about and those he didn't care about wither away, thus engraving a calmness deep into his soul.

The only thing that didn't change was his tone.

That tone of speaking, always as detached as before, regardless of what happened, he could face it calmly.

Minette couldn't help blurting out, "I don't understand what you are saying, none of that has anything to do with me, I want an answer."

"Why did you send someone to kill me?"

"From the very beginning, have you been deceiving and plotting against me?"

The man lifted his head, and a trace of regret flashed through his dark eyes.

He said, "I only wanted to change something, but I couldn't accept the outcome of those changes. I'm not a saint; I have only been struggling endlessly."

"I have someone I cannot let go."

"If I change everything, she will cease to exist. To sit back and let everything unfold to its destined outcome is something I cannot reconcile with."

"Stop looking for answers. Go, do what you want to do."

Minette, shaking her head and with tears in her eyes, said, "I thought you were dead, but in fact, you weren't. The result I've been seeking is not as I had thought."

"I just wanted to be by your side, but that now seems laughable to me."

"You tell me to do what I want to do, but I have nothing left."

The man was silent for a long time.

He slowly said, "Say no more, go."

Minette, in pain, said, "You're a bastard."

Aside.

The Envelope watched all this, desperately wanting to rush to Minette's side and tell her that the person below was definitely not Du Wei, but it simply couldn't do so.

Invisibly, there was a power suppressing it.

And that power left it unable to resist.

Suddenly...

Bang!

The sky above the lake gathered dark clouds, and thunder roared.

As if it were the end of the world, it struck fear into the hearts of people.

Moreover, countless pale faces from the bottom of the lake were now being pushed down by the water, surging downward.

The pale faces couldn't break free from the shackles of the current, as if certain limitations existed.

Therefore.

What Minette could see was a terrifying torrent made up of countless faces, forming a circular curtain that stretched downwards endlessly.

All these things were merely illusions.

Yet in some sense, they were real.

The man standing on the coffin below seemed to have an indescribably somber mood.

He sighed.

Then, he stretched out his pale hand and gently pushed upwards.

"If you're unwilling to leave, then I'll send you away," he said.

"I alone will bear the burden of everything."

Minette's body rose uncontrollably upwards, only the envelope was left behind.

It was now incapable of conveying any message.

It had truly become mute.

If the shadow hadn't escaped, possessing a definitive intelligence, it would probably be very pleased.

Because the envelope was really annoying, both cheap and shameless.

It was like a husky, never shutting up.

Minette couldn't accept that she was leaving in such a confused state and through gritted teeth said, "What you think is yours, what I think is mine, who are you to decide my thoughts?"

"You've deceived me for so long, and now you want to end it like this?"

"I'm telling you, that's absolutely impossible."

Minette's Right Hand, the pattern made by the mask and the hands, fed her even greater strength.

She gripped the long sword.

And slashed directly downward.

The invisible force being propelled dissipated into nothing, and Minette grunted as her body plummeted straight down.

She had regained her freedom.

And the amplification of her power was even more terrifying than before.

This power was endless and utterly without cause.

The man below narrowed his eyes and calmly said, "There is no point in forcing anything. When it's time for you to know, you will naturally find out. Why be so impatient?"

His words seemed to have another meaning.

He was not speaking to Minette.

Minette immediately asked, "What do you mean?"

Then she heard a voice behind her that she couldn't believe.

The voice was cold and ruthless.

"Indeed, there is no meaning," it said.

"Because all of this so-called everything is too boring in my eyes."

"But this so-called knowing when I am supposed to know, this so-called insistence?"

"Are you talking to me?"

Minette immediately turned her head, and then she saw a man wearing a trench coat, donning a pale mask with an ocean symbol beneath its right eye, slowly emerging from the darkness.

And his shadow was stretched very long.

"You... who are you..."

Minette covered her mouth, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Meanwhile, the mask pattern on her Right Hand also disappeared as if it had never been there.

The Evil Spirit Du Wei stretched out his Right Hand, took a cold glance at Minette without saying a word.

In the moment of his appearance.

The pale faces bound by the current all burst forth, forming a massive throne.

The Evil Spirit Du Wei sat atop it.

He looked down from above, indifferent to the existence below that was identical to himself.

He also retracted the force that was suppressing the envelope.