The charming widow of the Marquis's mansion: The stable boy carries the flag and raises the dra

"I...I can't..."

She shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I can't... I can't kill..."

She curled up on the ground in pain, letting out suppressed sobs.

"I'm in so much pain... My love, I'm in so much pain... Why are you doing this to me... Why are you making me do this... I don't want to hurt anyone... I just want to be with you... Why is it so hard..."

Seeing her like this, the fake Wang Long was not moved at all. Instead, he took a step forward and his voice was filled with even more sarcastic mockery.

"If you're unwilling to kneel or lay a hand on me, what makes you think you're willing to do anything? You can't even do this small thing, yet you dare say you love me?"

Ye Niannu's body trembled even more violently, and she curled up into a ball. She could no longer bear the pain and fainted.

Wang Long's anger was completely ignited at this moment.

He whirled around, and the golden lightsaber in his palm suddenly swelled, its light several times brighter than before.

He didn't say anything more, but walked step by step toward the fake dragon, each step leaving deep cracks in the ground.

"Looks like you really want to die!"

The fake King Dragon sneered, raising his lightsaber as well, and charged forward.

The two golden beams of light collided once more, this time even more violently than before.

But Wang Long was no longer just defending and probing; his attacks poured down like a storm, each sword strike more fierce and decisive than the last.

At first, the fake Wang Long could barely keep up with his pace, but gradually, his movements began to show a slight, imperceptible sluggishness.

He noticed that Wang Long's attack methods were changing; the moves that were originally synchronized with his were being replaced by some deeper power.

"You...you're changing?"

For the first time, the fake Wang Long's voice became slightly unsteady.

He sensed that Wang Long's aura was becoming increasingly solid and pure, carrying a power that he could not imitate.

Wang Long remained silent; he simply continued to swing his sword. Each strike seemed to sever something, each collision tore something apart.

"You can imitate my moves, but you can't imitate the path I've walked!"

"You have no idea what responsibility means!"

Wang Long's voice was deep, yet carried an undeniable power. The fake Wang Long's face began to blur, and fine cracks appeared one after another.

He looked down at his crumbling hand, then looked up at Wang Long and suddenly laughed.

That smile carried a complex meaning, like liberation, or some inexplicable sense of relief.

"You win... I was always a part of you... Now that you've accepted me, I'm no longer whole... And you no longer need me..."

Before he finished speaking, the fake dragon's body began to completely disintegrate, turning into countless tiny specks of light like a shattered mirror, and dissipating into the air.

Only that last trace of sound lingered, falling very softly and faintly into Wang Long's ears.

As the light faded, the thick fog also dissipated.

in reality.

Ye Niannu's curled-up body finally stopped trembling. She slowly opened her eyes, her gaze somewhat unfocused, as if she had just woken up from a long nightmare.

She saw Wang Long, right in front of her.

The gaze was warm and genuine, devoid of indifference or scrutiny, revealing only undisguised concern and heartache.

"My lord..."

She spoke softly, her voice hoarse from just waking up, her gaze fixed on his face.

"It's you...it really is you..."

Wang Long walked up to her, squatted down, and gently wiped away the tears on her face, his voice low and gentle.

"It's me, the old man has arrived."

Ye Niannu looked into his eyes as if she had been looking for a long time, then suddenly threw herself into his arms, wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, buried her face in his chest, and burst into tears.

"I'm so scared... I thought you really didn't want me anymore..."

Wang Long put his arm around her, gently patting her back with one hand, his voice filled with suppressed heartache.

"No, I will never abandon you."

Ye Niannu cried in his arms for a long time, as if she was trying to expel the fears that the illusions had brought up little by little.

Only when her crying gradually subsided and her breathing slowly calmed down did she lift her head from his arms, her eyes still red, but she grinned.

"My lord... I have also broken through to the level of spiritual power."

Her voice was nasal, yet carried a hint of smugness.

Wang Long looked at her peach blossom eyes, which were still glistening with tears, and couldn't help but chuckle. He reached out and pinched her cheek.

"Yes, I can feel it. It's much stronger than before. I guess I've turned misfortune into blessing."

Ye Niannu rubbed against his palm, then buried her face in his shoulder again, her voice tinged with a hint of coquetry.

The winds in the Heart Forging Domain have completely calmed down, and the cultivators who were originally immersed in their own bizarre cultivation methods have finally realized that there is no more excitement to watch.

They gradually withdrew their gazes and returned to their respective states of being lost in thought, sleeping, or running.

Ye Niannu, however, had not fully recovered.

She remained nestled in Wang Long's arms, her arms wrapped around his waist, her head buried in the crook of his shoulder, like a frightened cat that had found the safest corner and refused to move away.

"My lord..."

Her voice was muffled, with a nasal tone from just crying, sounding soft and aggrieved.

"You said, the way you spoke in that illusion... was so cold. I've never seen you look at me like that before. I felt like the sky was falling."

Wang Long looked down at her, reached out and gently stroked the back of her head, his voice low and gentle.

"That's all fake. How could I treat you like that? Even if the sky were to fall, I would protect you first."

Ye Niannu snuggled closer to him, as if trying to wipe away the lingering unease, and only after a while did she lift her head.

Although her eyes were still red, a smile had returned to her lips.

"I know it's fake, but I can't help being scared... My lord, you can't really do that to me in the future, or I'll die."

No, it won't.

Wang Long's tone was calm yet resolute.

"I assure you."

Ye Niannu finally relaxed completely, took a half step back from his embrace, rubbed her face, and sniffed.

"Okay, then I won't cry anymore. I won't be pretty if I cry anymore."

As she spoke, she moved her wrists, feeling the spiritual energy fluctuations within her body that were several times stronger than before, and her eyes brightened slightly.

"My lord, I feel that my control over my mental power is much more refined than before."

"Me too."

Wang Long also checked his own condition. After breaking through the Heart Forging Domain, he could not only clearly perceive the movements in the distance, but also feel that his mental energy could be condensed into more subtle forms according to his will.

He raised his hand, and a thin strand of spiritual energy, as fine as a hair, condensed at his fingertips. The strand was almost invisible in the gray light, but it drew an extremely stable arc in the air, precisely bypassing the side of a meditating cultivator, and then silently retracted.