A new point in time.

The moment Mu Yang opened his eyes, he sensed something was wrong.

This was indeed his house.

But now, the house was enveloped by Clarisse's power.

Mu Yang thought to himself, This is bad. Perhaps today is the day Clarisse goes berserk and tries to flood Chenyu Vale.

He rushed outside, only to discover—

The outside was still his own room.

He was trapped.

Mu Yang drew his sword, intending to tear the house apart, but his strikes felt like they were hitting cotton.

Even stranger, after absorbing his sword energy, the house conjured a clone of Mu Yang to block his path.

This clone's strength was nearly identical to his own.

For a time, neither could gain the upper hand.

——————

Meanwhile.

Chenyu Vale.

Atop Mt. Mingyuan.

Two figures—one black, one white—stood in confrontation.

The white one was naturally Yaojun, while the one shrouded in black mist was Clarisse.

Yaojun held a slender one-handed sword, pointing it at Clarisse as he demanded:

"Why are you doing this? Do you not care about the lives of the people in Chenyu Vale?"

Below the mountain, the water had already begun to rise steadily.

Moreover, Clarisse had reclaimed the power of the two jade pendants at Jademouth.

They no longer possessed the ability to hold back the floodwaters.

Faced with Yaojun's questioning, Clarisse gave no answer.

Or rather—could she even still answer questions at all?

It was clear that, at some unknown point, Clarisse had been corrupted by a mysterious force.

Unable to find Mu Yang anywhere, Yaojun had no choice but to take up his sword and confront Clarisse alone.

But where was Lingyuan?

This incident had erupted too suddenly.

Lingyuan was still in Qiaoying Village at the time.

Upon sensing the abnormal surge of water, she immediately pretended to go berserk alongside her familiars, chasing after the villagers of Qiaoying Village.

When the people of Yilong Wharf saw the sudden rise of water, they didn't need much prompting—they knew to flee for their lives.

Qiaoying Village was relatively far away, and the mortals there had no idea what was happening.

But their location was also lower in elevation.

By the time the water truly rose, the roads would already be submerged.

Thus, Lingyuan had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure.

Pretending to go mad, she clawed at anyone she saw, acting as if she would bite them.

She and her familiars used this method to drive the people of Qiaoying Village toward the previously established shelters.

——————

At Fujin's location.

Fujin was currently floating above Jademouth.

Her adeptal energy was insufficient to reactivate Clarisse's two great jade pendants.

However, she had another method.

That was Chenyu Vale's legacy—the Toulong Ceremony.

She continuously channeled her adeptal energy into the sacrificial jade.

This was the largest sacrificial jade in history.

Fujin sought to use it to stop the flood caused by Clarisse...

——————

At Mu Yang's location.

Mu Yang and his clone were still locked in fierce combat.

"Is this the power of forbidden knowledge?"

Distracted by this thought, Mu Yang was nearly struck by his own ultimate technique.

After dodging the attack, Mu Yang countered with Sword Traverses Mountains and Rivers.

After this strike, he calmed down somewhat.

They had been fighting for so long.

Yet both of them still had energy to unleash such techniques.

This was strange. If the clone was powered by forbidden energy, it could do anything—but what about Mu Yang himself?

He didn't feel particularly exhausted at all. This was far too abnormal.

"This is the authority of dreams!"

An ordinary dream should have ended the moment Mu Yang was injured.

But this time, something else had been mixed in, making the effect far stronger.

"Then how about this?"

Mu Yang shrank his sword and stabbed himself through the heart.

The intense pain finally jolted him awake from the dream.

When he came to, he realized he wasn't in Yilong Wharf at all—he was on Lingmeng Mountain.

Mu Yang immediately rushed toward the source of the black mist.

By the time he reached Mt. Mingyuan,

he was met with a scene he had replayed countless times in his memories—

Yaojun, unable to maintain his human form, reverted to a white snake, lying on the ground on the verge of death.

Clarisse, shrouded in black mist, wielded a black-feathered sword and slashed downward.

The blade then split apart, severing the snake into five pieces...

Bzzzt—

Watching Yaojun collapse into a pool of blood,

Mu Yang's mind went blank.

No amount of mental preparation during his journey here could have helped.

Mu Yang lost all reason. In this moment, he completely forgot this was just a simulation.

His heart held only one thought—revenge. Revenge for Yaojun...

Mu Yang unsheathed his sword and charged at Clarisse, slashing wildly at her face.

He even abandoned all technique in his swordsmanship.

As he approached, the black mist around Clarisse began to dissipate.

Even so, Clarisse showed no signs of regaining her senses.

Two enraged individuals swung their swords at each other in a frenzy, neither willing to retreat.

Both were sent flying by the other's strikes, only to charge again...

By the time Lingyuan arrived at Mt. Mingyuan, this was the scene she witnessed.

She looked at Yaojun on the ground.

Strangely, it was at this moment that she regained her composure.

Having both of them berserk would solve nothing.

Mu Yang had to be awakened!

After Mu Yang and Clarisse were once again sent flying by each other's blows,

Lingyuan transformed into her beast form and pounced on Mu Yang, pinning him halfway down the mountainside.

Then, with a single swipe, she slammed him against the cliff face...

Cough—

The impact was far from light, but at least Mu Yang regained his senses.

Clarisse did not pursue them.

Her original plan had been to flood Chenyu Vale, creating a barrier to isolate Morax.

With no one left to stop her, now was the perfect time.

She began chanting incomprehensible incantations, and the waters surged even higher...

——————

Having regained his clarity, Mu Yang reappeared at the summit of Mt. Mingyuan.

Seeing Mu Yang's disheveled state, Clarisse's crimson eyes gleamed with undisguised mockery.

Mu Yang paid no heed. He simply assumed his stance and attacked.

His strikes had little effect.

Clarisse had been his sparring partner—she knew his swordsmanship inside out.

Thus, she remained relaxed in the face of Mu Yang's assault.

But this was exactly what Mu Yang wanted.

Clarisse let her guard down, and Mu Yang abruptly changed his technique, thrusting straight for her heart.

Yet the strike still failed to land—Clarisse blocked it once more.

"Enough... of these... petty tricks..."

At that moment, Mu Yang suddenly released his sword.

Instead, he used both hands to seize Clarisse's body.

Frost gathered around his grip, preventing her from shapeshifting.

Moreover, the black mist around her began to fade rapidly.

"Lingyuan!"

Mu Yang shouted.

Clarisse looked up—Lingyuan had somehow leaped above them.

"...This... won't be enough..."

"I know."

Mu Yang's entire body turned into an ice sculpture, firmly locking Clarisse in place.

Meanwhile, above them, Lingyuan—

The glowing fragments drifting from Mu Yang's body gathered in her hands.

They formed a sword without a hilt—or rather, a sword-shaped fragment.

Lingyuan used her momentum to plunge this fragment straight into Clarisse's chest...

BOOM—

A massive explosion of energy obliterated the peak of Mt. Mingyuan, leaving behind a vast crater.

Then, ice and snow erupted from the fragment, swiftly covering the entire mountaintop.

The snow not only buried the peak but also sealed away Clarisse and the forbidden power within her.

Lingyuan could no longer maintain her human form and reverted to her beast shape.

Using Mu Yang's true form had drained nearly all her strength.

Her right arm had also been injured by the backlash and had now gone numb.

Dragging her battered body, Lingyuan slowly crawled out of the crater.

Below the mountain, the floodwaters raged—but they did not submerge the lower reaches of Chenyu Vale.

When the waters reached Baojue Kou, they were sucked into a massive whirlpool.

Lingyuan watched as Fujin, hovering above Baojue Kou, reverted to her koi form and plummeted into the whirlpool's center...

She was powerless to stop it.

She didn't even have the strength to cry out.

Overwhelmed by the trauma, Lingyuan lost consciousness and tumbled down the cliff...

——————

Yilong Wharf.

Mu Yang opened his eyes—everything was normal.

He knew the simulation had ended this time.

Moreover, a very familiar figure stood beside him.

This person had finally chosen to meet him face-to-face.

Because of his self-sacrificial decision back then, Lingyuan had avoided him for years out of anger.

Even after recovering, she hadn't come to see him.

Mu Yang spoke first: "Have you forgiven me?"

"No."

The blue-haired beauty sitting by the bed had a wildly unrefined posture.

"I just thought you'd actually died this time after not breathing for ten hours. Came to collect the body."