Chen Xuan stared at Luan Yi with a solemn expression.
At this moment, the woman’s condition was dreadful. Blood seeped from every pore of her body, while the damage within was even more severe.
The injuries she had suffered were strikingly similar to those that had once nearly crippled Chen Xuan’s own cultivation.
Although her higher cultivation meant she would recover far more quickly, her current state was just as grave—if not even worse.
At this moment, even an ordinary mortal could have ended her life, much less a Soul Formation cultivator like Chen Xuan.
As the sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears, Luan Yi finally seemed to notice his presence.
"Brother Chen... you really care for Yi’er... I knew it... I knew it..." she whispered softly, lowering her gaze to her bloodied body as though every wound were proof of his affection.
The sentence nearly made Chen Xuan stumble. The heavy atmosphere that had lingered after the battle vanished almost instantly.
Yet Luan Yi seemed completely unaware that anything she had said was strange. Without pausing, she continued.
"I knew Brother Chen loved me... Unfortunately, we won’t be able to see each other for a long time..."
As the final words left her lips, her aura suddenly became chaotic.
One moment it was weak, the next overwhelmingly powerful, as though two incompatible forces were constantly replacing one another.
Sure enough, visible changes soon followed.
Her long black hair, which blended seamlessly into the darkness of the night, gradually lost its color.
White first appeared at the roots before rapidly spreading downward until every strand had become as pure as snow.
The same transformation occurred in her eyes.
Her dark pupils gradually faded, becoming an immaculate white that made her gaze appear both unfamiliar and strangely sacred.
The change happened almost instantaneously.
Right before Chen Xuan’s eyes, the Luan Yi he knew seemed to disappear, replaced by an entirely different person.
Even the aura she exuded had changed completely.
The previous oppressive and sinister feeling had disappeared, replaced by a gentle warmth that made others instinctively lower their guard.
Only the remnants of her black dress served as proof that they were one and the same.
Chen Xuan’s expression grew increasingly strange.
Almost instinctively, he activated the Heavenly Insight Eye.
His gaze locked onto Luan Yi. Instantly, lines of information appeared before him.
...
[Name: Luan Yi (Form Two)]
[Physique: Heavenly Good Spirit Body (Ultimate-Grade)]
[Cultivation: Soul Formation (Middle)]
[Technique: Kindness Transformation Scripture (Twelfth Level)]
[Talent Rating: 7 Stars]
[Evaluation: A powerful cultivator with a special Spirit Body capable of absorbing kind thoughts and resources. This person is destined to reach the apex of the Mortal World. It is heavily recommended that the Host accepts them as their disciple!]
...
For the first time since obtaining the Heavenly Insight Eye, the information before him seemed to answer one question only by giving rise to countless others.
He understood every individual word displayed before him. Yet when they were placed together, they became almost impossible to comprehend.
Or rather, simply found himself unwilling to accept the conclusion.
’Luan Yi... is actually two different people?’
Yes. That was the only explanation Chen Xuan could arrive at.
Everything pointed toward it.
The Luan Yi he had known for so many years was not one individual, but two.
One possessed the Heavenly Evil Spirit Body, and the other the Heavenly Good Spirit Body.
Even so, despite how reasonable that explanation appeared, several inconsistencies immediately surfaced in his mind.
After a brief moment of thought, Chen Xuan put away the Common Saber and stepped forward.
Immediately, Spiritual Energy poured from his body, transforming into countless emerald strands that gently descended upon Luan Yi before flowing into her wounds.
At a speed visible to the naked eye, her injuries began to recover. The scratches on her skin disappeared, and the flowing blood merged back into her body.
During the many years he had remained at the Core Formation realm, Chen Xuan had devoted considerable time to studying countless secondary arts.
Among them, healing was undoubtedly one of the fields in which he had attained the highest proficiency.
Combined with Luan Yi’s own cultivation, it took only a short while for her condition to stabilize.
Naturally, after everything that had happened, Chen Xuan had no intention of allowing her to fully recover.
He deliberately stopped the treatment before restoring her cultivation, leaving her physical condition comparable to that of an ordinary mortal.
Even so, that was enough.
Slowly, vitality returned to her pale white eyes. Before long, intelligence once again appeared within them.
Luan Yi blinked in confusion as she sensed the pain coursing throughout her body. Looking down at her bloodstained clothes and battered figure, she instinctively tried to move.
But just then, she noticed someone standing beside her.
As she slowly raised her head, a familiar face entered her sight.
"Br... Brother Chen..."
Her voice was filled with delight. Yet only a heartbeat later, she seemed to remember her current appearance.
Instantly, panic flooded her face.
"No! Brother Chen! It’s not what you think!"
She frantically waved her hands in front of herself, desperately trying to hide her white hair and eyes.
Unfortunately, such a thing was obviously impossible. Realizing this, her movements gradually slowed before finally coming to a stop.
Several seconds later, she drew a deep breath.
When she looked back at Chen Xuan, tears had already gathered in her eyes.
"Brother Chen... please don’t hate me..."
Her voice trembled with pleading, as though that single possibility frightened her more than death itself.
--
Half an hour later, Chen Xuan sat in complete silence, staring at the unconscious Luan Yi with an indescribable expression.
Everything had finally come to light.
After accepting reality, Luan Yi had stopped hiding anything.
Half flustered and half embarrassed, she patiently explained everything.
Yet although her explanation resolved every mystery, it somehow left Chen Xuan questioning reality even more.
According to Luan Yi, she possessed an extraordinarily rare Physique.
Not the two Spirit Bodies shown by the Heavenly Insight Eye, but a Holy Body.
The Heavenly Twin Souls Holy Body.
As its name suggested, the Holy Body divided its owner’s soul into two completely independent souls.
In Luan Yi’s case, one soul had become the Heavenly Evil Spirit Body, while the other had become the Heavenly Good Spirit Body.
Since birth, the two had always coexisted. Although they alternated control over the same body, they had long accepted such a life.
In fact, according to Luan Yi herself, the two souls got along surprisingly well.
As for which of them had accompanied Chen Xuan throughout all these years...
The answer was both.
Sometimes it had been the evil Luan Yi. Sometimes it had been the kind Luan Yi.
They had quietly taken turns without Chen Xuan noticing in the slightest.
As for how they had managed to accomplish something so absurd, Chen Xuan recalled the clone that had chased after his distraction.
At first, he had assumed that incarnation existed solely to deceive him and lure him into this trap.
Reality, however, was entirely different.
That clone had neither been created to fool him nor to guard the Myriad Souls Sect.
Instead, it had served as the vessel through which the two Luan Yis alternated while interacting with him.
’No wonder I never noticed anything unusual...’
’Through that incarnation, they managed to perfectly conceal not only the existence of two souls, but even their true cultivation.’
Chen Xuan had to admit that this method was quite smart. However, it was perhaps too smart!
’What was the point of going through all this? Wouldn’t it have been much easier to simply tell me from the very beginning?’
Countless complaints surfaced in Chen Xuan’s mind.
Several of them he had already voiced aloud.
The answer, however, was astonishingly simple.
"But Brother Chen... you’re such a bad person yourself. I was afraid that if you saw my kind side, you wouldn’t like Yi’er anymore..."
That had been the kind Luan Yi’s explanation.
The more Chen Xuan thought about it, the harder it became to maintain a calm expression.
Looking at the sleeping Luan Yi, whose lips still carried a peaceful smile despite the pain wracking her body, he suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to smack her to death.
Ultimately, though, rationality prevailed.
Chen Xuan held himself back.
Suppressing the impulse, Chen Xuan cast several more healing spells to stabilize her condition and prevent her injuries from worsening.
Only then did he slowly lift his gaze toward the surroundings.
Or rather, toward the devastated wasteland that had once been an incomparably beautiful garden.
Not long ago, every inch of this place had been carefully maintained by Luan Yi. Rare flowers that could hardly be found anywhere else in the Tianxuan Domain had flourished here.
Now, everything had been destroyed.
Just as he was about to sigh with emotion regarding the destructive power of cultivators and whisper a few words, a familiar discordant voice suddenly shattered the silence.