Chapter 1900 - 1899: The Death of Ai Luoti

The pitch-black veiled skirt swept over He Ao’s field of view, and the surrounding scenery shattered like a dream.

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[New scenes begin to reorganize in your field of view, followed by fragments of consciousness.

You raise your head and look at the clear sky above, and gaze at the bustling city around you.

This is Ilotan, the capital of the Julia Kingdom.

A thought emerges in your mind.

The noise of the hustle and bustle rings behind you, prompting you to turn around and look into the distance.

People come and go behind you, passing a towering stone and wooden high-rise standing under the clear sky.

Long-haired beauties dressed in thin clothes stand at the building’s edges, waving their hands to attract passersby.

Many rough figures notice the call and enter the building.

Meanwhile, on the balcony of the high-rise sits a girl with a delicate appearance.

She lowers her eyes, gazing at the people below, her long slender eyebrows slightly furrowed.

She is so beautiful that she seems a world apart from the other beauties below.

Even in the Julia Kingdom, such appearance is considered extraordinary, achieved only by royal bloodlines or those descended from the nobility.

A girl of such beauty could overshadow entire city states outside Ilotan.

And this outstandingly beautiful girl sits atop the towering high-rise, calmly and with a hint of melancholy.

While you gaze at the girl, she also notices you.

But her gaze doesn’t linger on you, merely sweeping past your body, as it does with everyone staring at her on the street.

Then, the girl slowly rises and walks into the pagoda.

Behind you, those watching the girl follow her movements, crowding into the building.

Standing amidst the street, you too are swept up and squeezed into the high-rise.

Inside, the decor is dazzling with countless beauties traveling through.

There are youthful, naive teenagers and proud women with graceful figures, each unique and different in personality, gathered in this small tower, as if all the continent’s beautiful ladies are within.

As you move through the tower, you gradually learn about the origin of the girl atop the building.

The girl was raised from childhood by the building’s owner and is known as the "Young Master" of this tower.

She is also the most expensive lady within.

Wanting to "converse" with her requires more than just wealth.

Rumor has it that even a royal male from the kingdom wished for a romantic night with her, but she refused.

To "converse" with her requires being one of the top young talents of the kingdom.

Sitting atop the building each day, she serves as the best advertisement for the establishment, drawing a constant stream of admirers, including figures from the other side of the continent, just to behold her beauty.

In these crowded like-minded gatherings, you too come to know how to impress her for a chance to ’meet’.

One must demonstrate an artistic talent, be it music, dancing, poetry, or archery; exceptional talent may win her favor.

It’s said a once-disgraced minstrel received gifts of precious jewelry after winning her favor.

Of course, after the meeting, instead of conversing, there’s an ’interview’, and only after passing it can one truly engage.

Everyone is performing energetically, and soon, you too are caught in the act.

You’ve forgotten how you arrived here, yet instinctively sense you don’t wish to stay long.

You intend to leave, but unexpectedly bump into a passerby, with the aggressive stranger attacking you.

Forced to defend yourself, you draw your long sword and defeat the attackers.

After a fierce fight, you suddenly realize silence has settled around you.

The sound of a clear bell at the top of the high-rise echoes; it’s the ring announcing the ’Young Master’ is receiving guests.

A pretty maid approaches and introduces you to the Young Master.

The master’s beauty takes your breath away again; you both engage in vibrant conversations covering astronomy, geography, ancient texts, modern literature, to historical legends and mythical tales.

She loves witch novels, and coincidentally, you’ve read many similar stories.

She seems very fond of you, and you agree to meet again soon.

Over the next several months, you meet frequently, each occasion vibrant with shared discussions, pushing you to fantasize about your encounters with the girl.

Her beauty captivates not just outwardly but also through her insight and discourse.

Your family background is privileged; as the only child of a wealthy distant merchant, you command vast resources supporting your visits to the girl.

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Half a year after your meetings, the girl breaks free from her maid’s supervision, confiding in you secretly about desiring to escape the tower’s control, seeking your assistance.

Without hesitating, you agree.

Boldly, you approach the tower’s owner, asking about purchasing her freedom to leave together, only to be firmly declined despite any price offered.

Following that, the owner prohibits you, preventing any meeting opportunities with the girl.

These days persist for half a year until one day a stranger knocks at your family door.

You look up to find a blood-stained girl, having escaped the tower unnoticed, seeking refuge, while the owner pursues her throughout the city.

Beside yourself with joy, you immediately offer her protection, freshen and clothe her in beauty, hidden in your courtyard depths.

Anticipating a joyful escape together, your joy is brief; it’s only a matter of days before the kingdom’s guards approach your residence seeking the girl’s whereabouts.

Despite evading suspicion, you recognize the tower owner’s sights are set on you.

Possessing extensive influence, the tower owner mobilizes substantial resources across the kingdom.

Secretly, you bribe city officials, fleeing with the girl and attendants from Ilotan overnight.

Soon enough, kingdom forces discover you, forcing you to flee at night, traversing perilous highlands across desolate wilderness.

After two days and nights of escape, you barely evade kingdom pursuit.

Avoiding populated cities, only allowing attendants to purchase supplies from nearby towns, you join a Kovotra caravan, traveling southward, taking a year to reach the southern continent.

This land is a scorching desert, sparsely urbanized yet far from the Julia Kingdom.

During this year, despite occasional arguments, you reconcile quickly, facing challenges together.

Your journey settles in Visenkro, a city near the southern sea, by then attendants either fled or perished, leaving only a handful of devoutly loyal ones, your funds nearly depleted.

But you and the girl were quite capable, quickly finding a business opportunity—spinning cotton thread.

Though Visenkro was rich in cotton, its technology was immature. You exploited this gap with more advanced spinning techniques, creating superior cotton garments and swiftly capturing the market, establishing yourselves in the city.

Later, you finally contacted your merchant father, who sent you even more advanced machinery and skilled workers.

You supplied your father with quality cotton, and your business expanded rapidly, becoming the largest cotton supplier and textile manufacturer in the Southern City States in just twenty years.

The city lord of the Southern City States treated you as distinguished guests.

You and the girl finally settled down, becoming a famously loving couple, rarely attending the chaotic noble banquets, always remaining devoted to each other.

Twenty years passed, and you even surpassed your father, becoming the largest traders in the entire south of the continent.

You used the connections and wealth accumulated over the years to gather a massive army and launched an attack on the northern Julia Kingdom.

The main army of the Julia Kingdom was defeated in a single battle, and you reached the capital, Ilotan.

After a prolonged war, you breached Ilotan.

The former master of the high tower was still alive, having raised a new ’Young Master’ who sat atop the tower.

You caught the tower’s master before he escaped, discovering he was King Julia’s uncle.

The girl was truly his daughter, the prettiest among his children, and his most useful tool.

Your allied forces plundered Ilotan, and the girl personally killed the tower master.

After decades together, you’d never seen the girl so happy.

When you returned to the Southern City States with the spoils, your life gradually stabilized.

Your business spanned the entire continent, your cotton estates stretching from the eastern coast to the western coast.

You encountered powerful Transcendents, even witnessing near-immortal powers.

But you didn’t pursue these powers, content with your life and willing to accept death.

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Finally, you were both over eighty, and the footsteps of death approached.

Your wife was gravely ill, with little time left, and you stayed by her side, caring for her day and night.

One day, she suddenly became vigorous, sitting up in bed, expressing a desire to travel.

You took her to tour the south, returning to the Julia Kingdom, and then back to Ilotan.

The Julia Kingdom had long relocated its capital, but Ilotan’s high tower still stood.

The tower had been converted into a shop, belonging to your business.

You ascended to the tower’s top, sitting on the balcony, watching the crowds below.

You felt your wife’s life rapidly fading away.

She took out a ’gift,’ a butterfly mask.

She hoped you would wear it.

This was her final gift.]

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He Ao looked at the butterfly mask in his hand, silent for a moment as memories gathered and dissipated in his mind. He raised his head to look at the aging Ai Luoti before him, a faintly happy smile on her lips as if ready to die at any moment.

He sighed softly, "Are you still not satisfied?"

The ’Elderly’ opposite, hearing this, was slightly stunned, raising her gaze to look at He Ao.

Her cloudy eyes gradually regained clarity.

He Ao quietly gazed at the aged Ai Luoti before him. He raised his hand as strands of dark radiance gathered in his palm, forming a slender blade that pierced through Ai Luoti’s body.

The high tower, the street, the sky, all shattered visibly to the naked eye.

Ai Luoti lifted her head, looking at He Ao in shock.

Her aged features quickly smoothed out, her delicate skin gradually filling with vitality, transforming back into a peerlessly beautiful girl.

The black gauze dress danced in the wind as she lowered her head to look forward.

A faint, purple-black longsword pierced through her body, penetrating her soul.

Some terrifying power was devouring her vital essence.

She raised her head to look at He Ao, her gaze filled with bewilderment, "You knew from the start···?"

"You’ve already used a similar illusion once before." He Ao calmly observed her.

Besides those illusions, he had seized the opportunity to glimpse her true memories while she cast them.

The entire first part of the illusion was real; she was indeed the ’Young Master’ of the tower, the flower queen of that building.

And indeed there was a merchant’s son who got along well with her and fell in love at first sight.

But that merchant’s son didn’t save her out like He Ao.

After the tower master’s first warning, he retreated, no longer seeking Ai Luoti.

But young Ai Luoti thought the merchant’s son was restricted by the tower master. She went to great lengths, climbing out of the tower to find him, wanting to elope.

But the son first pretended to let her in, then turned and had someone report her. Ai Luoti was dragged back and punished in the dungeon, suffering indescribably.

Afterward, she was replaced by the new ’Young Master,’ punished by the tower master as the lowest-level prostitute.

The wealthy merchant’s son even ’patronized’ her.

In the end, she caught a disease, dying, and was thrown into a sewage ditch, where she met a passing Witch Church preacher.

The preacher was caught by her ankle, rescued her, brought her into the Church, and she entered the Transcendent.

She took decades to become a B-level Extraordinary, created a massive Sacrifice in Ilotan, and sacrificed the wealthy merchant’s son and all those connected to her back then to the Witch of Desire.

Except for the tower master; he had died of illness before that.

Due to that terrifying Sacrifice and the impact from the Sulan-ruled Kevortla, the Julia Kingdom eventually moved its capital away from Ilotan.

It was an entirely different fate line from the one He Ao experienced in the Illusion Realm.

"I see," at this moment, Ai Luoti raised her head again, looking at He Ao, seemingly recalling something, laughing, "Did you sense me probing your thoughts? Peering into your memories? Did you feel disgusted, polluted?"

He Ao merely looked at her calmly.

If Ai Luoti had acted earlier in the illusion, it would have been much more dangerous for He Ao, but she still delayed until the illusion’s end.

The breeze lifted the black hem of her dress, Ai Luoti finally curled a faint smile, her appearance gradually aging, just as in the Illusion Realm, "Thank you."