Chapter 197 The Woman in the Depths of the Palace

Murong Xian'er didn't hesitate after hearing what Xiao Chen said. She immediately closed her eyes and felt for the faint fluctuation of the formation's spirit energy. Then, she began moving her fingers to cast a spell. A layer of faint white radiance wrapped itself around her as it slowly buoyed her into the air.

One dot, two dots, three dots. Countless light specks began emanating from her, scattering to all corners of the area. Under the curtain of the night, they looked just like fireflies.

Xiao Chen knew that she was investigating the location of the formation points. A formation as massive as this one would have no less than a hundred points. It would be quite the challenge to find each and every formation point, and then break them according to the order that the owner installed the roots in. Even if he was given ten years, it would be difficult for him to accomplish this task. Xian'er was a different story, however.

Moments later, the countless light specks returned to her body. Evidently, she had found every single root of the formation. She then waved her hands and countless rays of light formed out of spirit energy made their way toward each formation point.

Currently, she was looking a little pale in the face and sweat was beading on her forehead. It was evident that the task was consuming a lot of her spirit energy. Xiao Chen's eyebrows were locked in a tight frown, but there was nothing that he could do for her.

Suddenly, the vital force around them started to surge madly. Murong Xian'er shuddered and nearly fell to the ground. Xiao Chen's expression changed and immediately stepped forward.

"Brother Xiao Chen, I'm fine. Don't worry."

Murong Xian'er started casting a spell again. It wasn't that simple to undo the spirit energy left behind by the owner of this formation. Suddenly, a wispy voice came from deep within the ground. "Brother Ning, is that you? Did you come back…?"

That voice was so soft that it was barely audible. Xiao Chen couldn't hear it clearly either; he could just vaguely make it out to be a lady's voice. The voice seemed to be a touch mournful, making him feel inexplicably sorrowful.

Suddenly, the vital force around them shook and that voice resounded again. "Brother Ning, is that you? Did you really come back...?"

This time, Xiao Chen heard it loud and clear. It was indeed a woman's voice. He thought it sounded familiar as if he had heard of it somewhere before. Before he could rack his memories, a potent attraction force suddenly appeared in the vicinity.

Murong Xian'er screeched and their vision immediately turned dark. By the time their vision cleared up again, both of them found themselves inside the remains of the palace.

Xiao Chen got a fright. They must be inside the boundary of the formation now. He scanned his surroundings, where he saw leaning pillars and roof beams and walls covered in vines. Many sculptures were placed in disorder. In the middle were numerous ordinary-looking steles that were pared. He assumed that the cuts were the result of swords. There must have been a massive battle in this palace.

Right then, the faint voice from deep within the palace once again spoke. "Did you come back...?"

For some reason, Xiao Chen felt a sense of amiableness. He took several steps forward while Murong Xian'er cautiously followed in his footsteps and walked behind him.

After fifty or sixty steps, a somewhat surprised voice drifted from the depths of the palace followed by a sigh. "You look like him, but you're not him..."

The further Xiao Chen went in, the more clearly he saw a white-clothed woman leaning against a steel. Upon first glance, he knew that this woman was a soul body. More importantly, this was such a familiar-looking scene! He felt as if he had seen this before.

The woman possessed such an otherworldly beauty that it didn't look real. Even if there was a woman beautiful enough to captivate birds and beasts or embarrass the moon and flowers, she wouldn't even match up to this woman's gentle sigh.

The depths of her eyes seemed to be hiding a thousand-year sorrow. One couldn't help shedding tears upon seeing her and feeling the sadness of going through the wheel of reincarnation for hundreds of thousands of years.

"Who is she? Why is she so sorrowful?"

"Who are you?" Xiao Chen couldn't help taking a step forward.

"Aren't... you scared of me?" The woman raised her head. Her voice was quiet as if she was recounting the loneliness she felt guarding this deserted palace for thousands of years, as well as the desolateness of people never daring to approach her.

"No. I just want to know who you are and who are you waiting so bitterly for." Xiao Chen tried his best to restrain his turbulent emotions. However, he ultimately mentioned that person's name in a soft voice. "Is his name Xiao Ning..."

Instantly, the woman became agitated. "Have you met Brother Ning? Where is he? Did he send you here?"

Xiao Chen was now sure that this woman was Xiao Ning's lover, as well as the owner of the portrait of Xiao Ning hanging in their family's ancestral hall. It was she who left behind the divine words of "I'll wait for you at the Heartless Temple". This meant that this place was called the Heartless Temple.

He shook his head and sighed. "Do you know how many years has it been?"

The woman looked like she was at a loss. Evidently, she didn't know how much time had passed either. She shook her head and seemed to be talking to herself when she said, "I don't know. I only remember getting seriously hurt that day and Brother Ning sent me here so I could heal. He left to fight Gu Feng to the death, but he said he'd return..."

"One thousand years. It has been one thousand years since then," Xiao Chen said softly.

"What?!"

The woman's expression changed drastically. Her face, already pale in the first place, turned even whiter. Even though Xiao Ning's cultivation back then had been in the Apotheosis Realm, he was nonetheless a mortal. There was no way a mortal could live for a thousand years.

She shook her head repeatedly. "Impossible... He won't die. His skills are unrivaled! How could he die?!"

She muttered the words over and over again for a long time. In the end, she hugged her legs and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Xiao Chen felt an inexplicable sense of sadness. If he died one day, would Muxue be waiting for him somewhere for hundreds of years? There were many who would retain their infatuation for their whole lives, but how many would refuse to enter the wheel of reincarnation, just waiting for one person?

The woman in front of him had refused to reincarnate even though she had been turned into a soul body, resolutely waiting here for a bitterly long time just for her promise back then to wait at the Heartless Temple...

Xiao Chen waited for the woman to calm down enough to stop crying before walking up to her and said, "Maybe he's not dead."

The woman immediately raised her head. After pondering over it, she muttered, "That's right. Gu Feng would never kill him. Five Major Sects! It must be the Five Major Sects! I received news afterward that the Xiao family and the Five Major Sects regarded him a traitor..."

She spoke to herself for a short moment before looking at Xiao Chen and saying, "You share a similar breath as him. Back then, he was entrusted with the task of establishing a branch of Xiao family in the Human World. You must be from that family. Moreover, I can sense that someone has deciphered the divine words I left on the painting. It must be your work."

Xiao Chen nodded. He thought, "If I couldn't reincarnate, Master would surely use the Samsara Life-reversing Technique to resurrect me. So that was why she would ask Xiao Ning to carry the Samsara Jade imbued with my soul, establish a Xiao family, and transfer my Destiny to a Young Master of the family or resurrect me through the latter's life."

To put it simply, he shouldn't be alive now. He was simply living through another person by fooling heaven.

However, there were still many mysteries about everything that happened back then. The Thousand Feathers Sect had been hell-bent on stopping Xiao Ning, even going so far as to incite the Five Major Sects into entrapping him. There were surely bigger secrets behind this matter. Thus, Xiao Chen asked, "Do you know the details of what happened?"

The woman shook her head. "Brother Ning was afraid of hurting my soul, so he hardly ever mentioned these things to me."

Xiao Chen sighed. It seemed that he would have to find Xiao Ning if he wanted answers to the mysteries back then. Suddenly, the palace began shaking violently. The woman's expression changed drastically. She made calculations with her fingers before saying, "He's here again!"

Xiao Chen's heart jumped. Was it Yu Yangzi?

The woman was currently looking grave and stern, shedding her previous delicateness. She was now emanating the air of a strong fighter. Xiao Chen belatedly recalled that back then, Xiao Ning was an Apotheosis Realm cultivator. The person beside him wouldn't be any weaker than him. This woman must have had high cultivation too.

"Hmph! If I still have my physical body, I could've exterminated that man outside with a wave of my hand. What a pity that I destroyed my physical body back then to ensure that my consciousness survived. That man outside has skills targeted to soul bodies so I'm not a match for him. He has been trying to ingest my soul all these years, so I placed a seal formation outside."

Xiao Chen was alarmed. Sure enough, Yu Yangzi was a blatant liar. Yu Yangzi must be desperate to ingest this woman's soul to repair his damaged soul.

The shaking of the palace was getting more and more severe. He couldn't help getting worried. Xian'er had broken just enough of the formation to let them in, but if Yu Yangzi burst in, it would spell a disaster for them.

"Don't worry," the woman said icily as she calculated on her fingers. "In another three days, someone will be here to eliminate him."