Chapter 70 According to Plan

Zhu Ya'er’s expression turned solemn once more, and she hurriedly backed away.

As she put distance between them, that faint sense of threat dissipated entirely.

She smiled slightly.

What was there to be afraid of?

Even if Xiao Lin had grown somewhat stronger, she could simply abandon the Fallen Sword Immortal’s reward and flee far away. The former would surely never dare to abandon the city’s populace to chase after her.

"He's actually rather handsome..."

Just as Zhu Ya'er was about to say something else, she saw Xiao Lin slowly extend his hands in front of his waist, one above the other.

"…?"

Doubt arose in Zhu Ya'er’s mind, and the very instant that question formed—

That suit of dark golden armor vanished right before her eyes...

"No!"

Zhu Ya'er finally realized something was amiss.

She couldn't even perceive how Xiao Lin had disappeared!

She cast out her spiritual sense, spun around abruptly, and spotted Xiao Lin’s figure behind her.

"How did you do that..."

Zhu Ya'er found it utterly unbelievable.

Vanishing instantly within the range of her spiritual sense was no different from disappearing in the blink of an eye before a mortal. Even she felt a flicker of horror.

Yet Xiao Lin remained silent, simply lowering his head to gaze at his palm.

Zhu Ya'er followed his gaze, and the perspective shifted accordingly.

Resting there was a perfectly natural Golden Core, resembling a masterpiece of creation itself.

If not for the fact that it was stained with bits of blood, torn flesh, and even yellowish-brown fat...

It might have appeared quite sacred.

Zhu Ya'er stared blankly at the object in Xiao Lin’s palm.

Isn't this a Golden Core?

Where on earth did he get a Golden Core...

As she thought this, an indescribable wave of exhaustion washed over her. It wasn't pain, nor was it weakness, but rather a tiredness so profound it felt like the ultimate sleepiness.

It was as if she hadn't had a proper sleep in ages.

And indeed, ever since she embarked on the path of cultivation, every single night of hers had been spent either in solitary meditation or dual cultivation.

Once practitioners achieved complete inanition, the very desire for sleep was severed.

This feeling was truly bizarre, making her feel as though she had been reduced to a mere mortal.

Not just her physical body, but her thoughts as well...

Beneath her sluggishly crawling thoughts, Zhu Ya'er finally realized something.

Stiffly, she lowered her head and looked toward her own dantian.

***

The scene shifted once again.

That was no longer the flat lower abdomen that had driven countless men mad; the smooth, fair skin was long gone, replaced by a bloody, gaping void—the very place where her Golden Core had once resided...

Terror, fear, pain...

Or perhaps the absence of any emotion at all.

To a cultivator accustomed to a thousand thoughts flashing in an instant, returning to the cognitive speed of a mortal meant that even generating normal emotions was an extravagant luxury.

At this moment, Zhu Ya'er could only feel bewilderment, an intense bewilderment so profound that as she looked once more at the Golden Core in Xiao Lin's hand, she could only murmur: "Is this... my Golden Core?"

Her answer was the closing of Xiao Lin’s five fingers.

Under his grip, the Golden Core shattered in absolute silence.

The next moment, countless wrinkles instantly bloomed across Zhu Ya'er’s child-smooth cheeks, making her look like a withered, dead tree.

The skin on the rest of her body did the same, and even her skeletal frame suddenly shrank severalfold, pulling her entire body inward in a "collapse" that distorted her beyond human recognition in a fraction of a second.

Time is the most ruthless thing, yet also the fairest.

Only cultivators receive a fraction of its mercy.

A Golden Core grants a lifespan of several centuries.

Yet having been reduced to a mortal, Zhu Ya'er—who had lived for hundreds of years—naturally had to pay a horrific price.

Zhu Ya'er didn't even manage to emit a sound before her body seemingly accelerated through the process of aging, and even death. Her flesh gradually turned to ash in the midst of this process, leaving not even a corpse behind.

A mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator utterly defeats an early-stage Golden Core cultivator.

Zhu Ya'er has fallen!

The End Time Emperor Armor dissolved once more into golden imperial Qi and black righteousness.

Yet Xiao Lin showed not a shred of excitement over having slain a Golden Core powerhouse across major realms.

Neither did the viewers outside the screen.

The "why" that Zhu Ya'er had longed to know until her dying breath was laid out crystal clear before them under the close-up shot.

The very instant Xiao Lin formed that peculiar hand seal, time seemed to freeze.

Though it lasted less than a single breath.

To Xiao Lin, whose physical body was at the half-step Golden Core stage, one-hundredth of a second was more than enough to slice open and extract Zhu Ya'er’s Golden Core.

Within Zhu Ya'er’s perception, time had not flowed, making Xiao Lin's positional shift entirely soundless and imperceptible to her—truly a spine-chilling feat.

Yet why couldn't they feel happy?

Perhaps because Xiao Lin looked far too wretched at this moment?

Yes and no.

No, because the opponent he faced was a Golden Core master.

Even if it was merely an early-stage Golden Core versus the peak of Foundation Establishment.

The gap between the two was a chasm as vast as heaven and earth.

In the anime and novels they had watched in the past,

A hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators bound together were no match for a single Golden Core.

Furthermore, Xiao Lin was only at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment, still separated by two minor realms from the peak of Foundation Establishment—a stage where he should have been utterly crushed by an early-stage Golden Core.

Such a vast disparity.

Even the viewers who had witnessed Xiao Lin's strength all the way through initially assumed this would be his burial ground.

Yet somehow, Xiao Lin won.

He won unexpectedly, he won with wretched extremity, he won even in a manner too gruesome to behold.

But win he did.

Foundation Establishment triumphs over Golden Core.

Those five simple words were more than enough.

No one would ever think Xiao Lin was no longer invincible.

On the contrary, his combat record was something that could shake the entire cultivation world to its core!

Yet the "yes" in the "yes and no" lay right here.

The moment he deactivated the armor, his appearance was laid bare to everyone's eyes.

Not only were all seven facial orifices bleeding, but even the invisible pores across his skin were constantly oozing blood.

In the blink of an eye, he had been transformed into a bloody man.

Countless viewers finally realized that what they couldn't accept wasn't just the prospect of Xiao Lin exiting the stage, but the unbearable sight of him in such a miserable state.

That young man who upheld the sword mountain's precepts, guarded the sword mountain, walked the path of righteousness, and protected the common folk... had pushed himself to this absolute limit.

If it had all ended right there, they might have still laughed it off, offering praises like "That armor was so cool just now" or joking with memes about "kneeling to the plastic Golden Core."

Yet all the various forms of foreshadowing that came before, combined with the atmosphere brewed up to this point, made the story's climax seem to point toward the very outcome they feared most...

At this moment, they would rather have seen Xiao Lin's cultivation crippled and his character written off than witness him truly perish here.

*Just once, for the one and only time, be a little selfish, little Qilin.*

Catching sight of this barrage comment, the pain wracking Xiao Lin’s entire body paused ever so slightly.

Be a little selfish?

Everything he had done was merely an act, meant solely to gather popularity points to ensure his own survival.

Wasn't that selfish enough?

*Sigh*, this batch of viewers was truly the worst he had ever led; they couldn't even see through his true essence.

Xiao Lin chuckled softly as he watched Gong Yunxuan hurry forward, frantically reaching out to steady him.

Waving a hand, he used spiritual energy to wipe the blood from his body and said, "Everything is going according to plan."

With that, he raised his gaze to watch the battle high up in the sky.

Yes, everything was within his plan.

Right now...

This was the final endgame.