From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 542 A Step Beyond Fate

Before I could recover from the dizziness of the teleportation, my vision was filled with a huge vortex of chaos and death.

The vortex seemed to be the primordial power at the beginning of the world, with chaotic power churning the origin of life on one side and death energy left behind by Xuanji on the other. They slowly swirled and merged among the broken bronze mirror fragments, emitting a suffocating sense of oppression.

The man in black robes—that is, Xuan Ji—didn't escape!

He stood at the edge of the vortex, his figure torn and flickering by the violent energy, yet he remained standing straight.

A cold glint appeared at the corner of his mouth, and madness and obsession lurked in his eyes.

"You think you've escaped fate?" he asked, his voice low and hoarse. "But fate is never a line, but a net."

Before he finished speaking, he struck out with his palm, causing the void to shatter inch by inch. That palm seemed to transcend time and space, directly attacking my brow!

My heart tightened, and I took a light step. Wen Chen had already sensed the danger, and a sharp sword aura swept across, carrying me three zhang away from where I stood.

"Thank you," I said softly, while simultaneously conjuring a chaotic light blade, but I didn't immediately make a move.

I'm waiting.

Wait until he reveals a weakness.

Although Xuanji's palm strike was powerful, he was not in a hurry. He was testing the waters and waiting for the right opportunity.

Wen Chen was already blocking my way like a shadow. His sword energy crisscrossed around him, forming an impenetrable sword net that blocked all possible escape routes for Xuan Ji.

But Xuanji had no intention of backing down at all.

"You can protect her for a while, but can you protect her forever?" He sneered, and with a sudden flick of his sleeve, several blood-red shadows flew out like venomous snakes, rushing straight for my limbs.

Wherever those blood-red shadows passed, the air was scorched, clearly a sealing talisman. Once it entangled me, it would instantly lock the flow of spiritual energy within my body.

"Watch out!" Zi Ling's voice rang out from behind. She was already poised to strike, and without hesitation, she threw out the Thunder Pearl in her hand. The moment the Phantom Thunder Pearl exploded, the entire space experienced a brief period of chaos.

This is exactly the opportunity I need.

The ethereal immortal was already prepared. He once again summoned the ancient mirror, its surface gleaming with golden light. At the crucial moment, he deflected two of the talismans back, striking Xuanji's left shoulder and shattering the protective aura around his shoulder.

"Cough..." Xuan Ji groaned, his body swaying slightly.

I took a deep breath, and finally unleashed the Chaos Blade in my hand!

However, just as the blade was about to strike Xuanji, he suddenly smiled.

“You still don’t understand…” he murmured, “All of this was destined from the moment you came into this world.”

He suddenly raised his hand, and a strange power wave spread out, causing a slight stagnation in the chaotic power within my body.

Oops!

Alarm bells rang in my mind, and I quickly withdrew my attack, stomping my foot and using Wen Chen's sword energy to dodge again.

"What else do you know?" I stared at him, my eyes burning with anger and resentment.

He just looked at me, his eyes filled with complex emotions, yet also tinged with sadness.

“You are not her… but she is still here,” he said. “She is in your heart, in every drop of your blood, waiting for your return at the end of every cycle of reincarnation.”

These words were like a sharp blade, piercing deep into my heart.

Am I not her? But why do I feel like I can hear another version of myself calling out during every battle?

Just then, Xuanji suddenly raised his hand, and a dark ball of light condensed in his palm. Within that light, countless human faces twisted and struggled, as if they were formed from the condensation of thousands of dead souls.

“This is the home I’ve prepared for you,” he whispered. “Go back to her.”

The next moment, the darkness transformed into a spear, whistling as it shot toward my chest!

I gritted my teeth, ready to fight, but found that the chaotic power within my body had become even more unstable due to the earlier shock.

We can't keep fighting like this.

A thought flashed through my mind.

Since we can't suppress it with force, let's fight back with our memories!

I closed my eyes, letting the black spear approach, and then deliberately activated the remaining memories of my past life within me—

All those images, sounds, and feelings that didn't belong to this world suddenly appeared.

A series of surreal yet real images floated around me: a girl dressed in modern clothes walking on a city street, sunlight shining on her face, she smiling and waving at the camera...

That's me.

The real me.

"What?!" Xuanji's expression finally changed.

I opened my eyes, my gaze filled with an unprecedented resolve.

“I am not her, but I am not just ‘I’ either.”

I raised my hand, and the chaotic light blade did not move again. Instead, a faint phantom of memory appeared in front of me.

The phantom barrier is complete!

Xuanji's spear struck the barrier and was momentarily stunned by the impact.

He froze, as if in that instant he had seen something he shouldn't have seen.

I was also taken aback for a moment.

Because in that instant, I seemed to see a blurry figure through a crack in my memory—

A woman who looked like me, but with a sorrowful expression, stood quietly at the edge of a desolate world, gazing at me.

Her lips were moving, as if she were saying something...

But the next second, the video was forcibly cut off.

"Who are you?" I murmured to myself, my voice barely audible.

Xuanji's gaze, however, became more complex than ever before. I stood there, my heart pounding like a drum.

The instant Xuanji's attack was blocked by the barrier of memory phantoms, I felt an unprecedented calm within the chaotic power of my body.

That feeling was like finally finding my true name again, no longer confused, no longer struggling.

"Why... can you still retain that memory?" he asked in a low voice, his voice trembling for the first time.

I looked at him, my eyes burning with a mixture of determination and anger.

“Because you forgot.” I spoke slowly, each word seeming to be squeezed out from the depths of my soul, “The real me is not a puppet you created.”

I suddenly ripped open the front of my shirt, revealing the pale golden mark—the original imprint of the Chaos Vein, the fundamental source of my ability to control the power of chaos in this life.

It had always been hidden beneath my flesh and blood, only surfacing in life-or-death situations.

And at this moment, it was completely awakened because of my emotional fluctuations!

Golden light shone, and the entire palace began to resonate, as if the whole world was responding to my awakening.

Xuanji roared and lunged at me, but just as he got close, an invisible force repelled him, and space around him distorted, like a black hole trying to swallow him.

His figure appeared and disappeared amidst the raging energy, but his eyes remained fixed on me, filled with resentment and confusion.

"You think this is the end? Fate will not let you off the hook..." His voice echoed in the wind, carrying a final warning and obsession.

The next moment, Wen Chen's figure was already close by.

The longsword in his hand gleamed coldly, slicing through the void. In an instant when everyone could barely see it, he severed the last lifeline connecting Xuanji to the outside world.

It was an invisible thread, yet it was the key to sustaining his remaining strength.

Xuanji's body instantly disintegrated, turning into a wisp of black mist that drifted away in the air, leaving only an unfinished whisper: "The cycle of reincarnation continues, karma is indestructible..."

As the smoke cleared, we stood amidst the ruins, looking at each other, and seeing in each other's eyes a sense of relief and uncertainty.

Zi Ling breathed softly, the Thunder Pearl in her hand already exhausted of its spiritual energy. She looked at me with a complicated expression: "Xiao Yao... you really did it."

I looked down at my hands, where a faint golden glow still lingered in my palms, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

But I know it wasn't an illusion.

I have truly broken free from the shackles of fate.

Looking up at the sky, the gray sky seemed to have cracked open, letting out a faint light that didn't belong to this world—just like the light I saw when I first crossed over, distant and unfamiliar, yet incredibly familiar.

I laughed.

This time, I did not hesitate, nor did I look back.

I stepped forward, and my figure gradually disappeared from everyone's sight.

I don't know what awaits me ahead, whether it's another world or a deeper vortex of fate.

But I'm not afraid anymore.

Because I have come to understand that the real me is not just a pre-assigned role, but an existence that can choose, change, and create.

Wen Chen did not give chase.

He just stood there, gazing in the direction I had left, and murmured softly, "I hope that this time, you will walk the path you want to walk."

Heaven and earth are silent, fate is uncertain.

And I am finally free.