Chapter 1265 The Faceless Woman
"So, we're good?" Wu Hong asked.
"Of course," Wang Wei nodded. "But I would like to remind you that in our future arguments, I will be petty and bring up today's event to win."
Wu Hong's body suddenly paused before sneering, "Do that, and I will bring up the maid, Dong Lifen, and even her." She pointed at Xun Junyao in the stadium. Wang Wei looked at her with mouth open — he was speechless.
"That's a dirty move, and you know it."
"Since you want to be petty, two can play this game."
Wang Wei was out of words, so he could only eat his grape and sip his drink in response. He had lost this battle of words.
"By the way, what does she truly look like," Wang Wei asked, finding Xun Junyao's situation quite fascinating.
"You don't want to know."
"Now, I'm even more curious," Wang Wei said as he focused his eyes. He tried to look through whatever power was around her face and body. However, it was to no avail, so Wang Wei had to summon a projection of the River of Fate to boost his efforts. Sadly, even that did not work. Feeling challenged, Wang Wei chose to use more extreme measures. He temporarily lifted the seals in his soul, accessing the full power of his Paragon Soul. He observed Xun Junyao alone with his soul, and the result was the same — she looked like a more perfect version of Wu Hong.
Wang Wei then immediately activated the perfect aura from his body and used it in tandem with his Paragon Soul. Her face blurred temporarily as if he was about to break through that veil, but he failed at the last minute.
Wang Wei sighed in resignation and looked at Wu Hong: "A little help, please."
"Are you sure you want to see?" she asked a second time.
" I am."
"Alright." She tapped on the side of his forehead, and Wang Wei's eyes suddenly felt a cold power running through it. He immediately focused on Xun Junyao, and his eyes squinted.
"She has no face?"
"That's right."
Wang Wei calmly observed her. It was truly bizarre. In his current sight, her head was empty with no skull, muscles, tissues, or any skins — just nothing there. He checked her soul, and it was there, but it also had facial expressions, just a vague outline of her face.
"What's going on?" Wang Wei asked.
"It's her curse," Wu Hong explained.
"An Innate Curse?" It was rare for cultivators to be born with a curse, but it does happen. For example, the Sword Empress was born with her talent sealed, which can be considered an Innate Curse. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Maybe," Wu Hong uttered.
"You don't agree?"
"No," she replied. "One of the fundamental characteristics of Half-Step Transcendence is that the application of the rules no longer restricts them. The stronger they are, the more that is so.
"Although the Fate Adjudicator is technically an Employee of Grand Dao, I don't think the rules would restrict him so much that he could not study perfection."
"You may have a point," Wang Wei nodded. "So, what do you think he did?"
"I think his crime was lusting after his boss' power," Wu Hong said. "As I said, perfection means becoming closer to Grand Dao. I think he wanted to cultivate a perfect being that contains the essence of Grand Dao. Then, he would study it in an attempt to reach higher levels."
"You may be into something," Wang Wei said with bright eyes. He peeked at the essence of Grand Dao when he established his Perfection Foundation. If he had someone like Xun Junyao – who achieved Half-Step Transcendence — to learn from, Wang Wei could not imagine what he could accomplish.
"If that is genuinely his crime, I must say I respect him a lot more," Wang Wei stated. His views of the Six Cardinal Tribunals are that they chose to serve Grand Dao in exchange for keeping their strength after their long service ended. However, he would respect him much more if the Fate Cardinal became ambitious and tried another method.
"Now we're on this topic; I suddenly thought of someone else."
"Are you talking about Di Tian?"
"Yes," Wang Wei nodded. "I originally thought he was a pawn of the Samsara Cardinal, but with his obsession with perfection, he might have been the Fate Cardinal's pawn first."
Di Tian studied Creation first and was already obsessed with creating the perfect life form in his first life. So, there is a high chance the Fate Cardinal abandoned him after his second life when he started cultivating Samsara Dao. Or, the Samsara Cardinal might have made a deal with Fate to get her hands on Di Tian.
Wu Hong sighed, "Obsession is a powerful force, but it's also the easiest way to manipulate someone."
"Wiser words have never been said," Wang Wei said as he chugged his win. "So, what's your obsession?"
"Me? It used to be to prove to the world that I was worthy,' Wu Hong said. "But now, it's no longer an obsession and more like a goal or desire that has been transformed into something else."
"I guess you're lucky to have escaped such a shackle," Wang Wei replied with a wry smile. Di Tian, Lin Fan, and likely Xun Junyao are pawns that these higher beings used obsession to control. But wasn't it the same for him?
The sad truth is that as long as he is obsessed with pursuing freedom and becoming free and unfettered, he will always be a pawn.
"Discouraged?" Wu Hong asked.
"Of course not," Wang Wei sneered. "Until the very end, it's not known who is the pawn or who is the chess player."
"That's more like it," she smiled.