After descending the mountain, my aloof fiancée became completely devoted to me.

The stone door to the secret chamber slowly opened, and a chilling, eerie wind rushed in.

The fake Shen Aoxue froze, her feet seemingly nailed to the ground, her pupils fixed on the face inside the crystal shield that was exactly the same as her own.

They have the exact same eyebrows and eyes, and the exact same stunning features.

The only difference is that the woman inside the veil has a cool and pure temperament, without a trace of evil, and is the original Shen Aoxue.

She is a fake, a parasite that possesses and alters the soul.

The gentle and obedient demeanor she had been trying to maintain completely crumbled, and panic surged wildly from her eyes. She abruptly turned to look at Lin Ping, her voice trembling, and tried to make a desperate attempt to defend herself.

"Honey...who...who is this? Why does he look exactly like me?!"

"I don't know who she is, I'm so scared, let's get out of here, it's too eerie!"

She reached out and tugged at Lin Ping's sleeve, wanting to turn around and escape the secret room, trying to continue to deceive him with her weak and innocent appearance.

Lin Ping slightly tightened his fingers, firmly gripping her wrist. The force wasn't strong, but it rendered her completely immobile.

His expression was calm, and his tone sounded gentle, yet it carried an icy chill.

"Strange?"

"The strangest person has always been by my side."

A simple sentence struck the fake Shen Aoxue's mind like a thunderbolt.

She was shocked and her whole body trembled. She looked up at Lin Ping in disbelief.

"You...you knew all along?"

"I knew it from the first time you were afraid to touch the Tian Shan snow lotus."

Lin Ping's gaze was indifferent as he quietly looked down at her flustered and disoriented appearance.

"You fear the treasure that purifies the soul, and you fear exposing the evil restrictions within your body. You staged your own rooftop fall, distorting the truth to force Zhu Xiaohan away. You imitate Ao Xue's personality in every way, but you can never learn her frankness and purity."

"You must be exhausted from acting, right?"

The truth is revealed layer by layer, without any mercy.

All of Shen Aoxue's pretense was completely shattered, her gentle facade was completely stripped away, and her eyes were instantly filled with a sinister and murderous aura, leaving no trace of her gentleness.

"Since you saw through it all along, why didn't you say so?!"

She screamed, her voice sharp and distorted, no longer soft and gentle as before.

"You watched me act, you watched me sow discord, you watched me plot against you for Xiaoyuer! You knew everything, but you kept pretending to be confused!"

Lin Ping said calmly, "I'm not exposing you because you're still useful."

"Keeping you alive is the only way to let Little Fish lower his guard and jump out without restraint. Keeping you alive is the only way to wipe out your entire scheme."

From beginning to end, she was merely a pawn used by Lin Ping to lure out a bigger fish.

Her supposedly superb acting skills, flawless disguise, and meticulously planned schemes were, in Lin Ping's eyes, nothing more than a farcical farce from beginning to end.

The fake Shen Aoxue was shocked and her soul almost shattered.

She always thought she was manipulating people's hearts and controlling the situation, but little did she know that she was the clown being played in the palm of her hand.

"How cruel you are..." she gritted her teeth, her whole body radiating a murderous aura.

"Compared to your methods of secretly capturing people, implanting soul-controlling chips, imprisoning people's weaknesses, and using others to do your dirty work, my methods are nothing."

Lin Ping raised his hand, a wisp of golden true energy floating at his fingertips, and gently tapped it.

hum-

The crystal shield in the center of the secret chamber loosened instantly, and the layers of malevolent energy restrictions crumbled inch by inch.

The confinement that had lasted for many days was finally lifted.

Zhen Shen Aoxue slowly opened her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly, as she awoke from her unconsciousness.

The first thing that came into view was Lin Ping's tall and straight back, and a strange woman with a sinister face who looked exactly like him.

She rose slightly, her gaze calm as she looked at the fake Shen Aoxue, showing no hostility, only a hint of indifference.

"You've been staying by Aping's side in my place for so long, thank you for your hard work."

The fake Shen Aoxue was enraged upon hearing this.

Despite sharing the same face, the real Shen Aoxue was naturally open and honest, earning Lin Ping's deep trust, while her scheming ultimately amounted to nothing.

Jealousy and resentment completely overwhelmed her reason. Her murderous aura surged, and she directly activated all the restricted power within her body, slamming a palm towards Zhen Shen Aoxue!

"I'll take your place? I'll destroy you! I'll kill you today, and from now on, there will be no more real Shen Aoxue in this world!"

The palm strike was sinister and chilling, carrying the evil power refined by Xiaoyuer, making it fierce and domineering.

Just as the palm strike was about to touch Zhen Shen Aoxue, a golden aura instantly spread out.

boom!

The fake Shen Aoxue was violently thrown back by an invisible force, crashing heavily against the stone wall. Her blood churned, and she spat out a mouthful of black blood.

Lin Ping's tone was icy: "Who gave you permission to lay a hand on me?"

A single move can make all the difference.

The fake Shen Aoxue collapsed to the ground, looking at the two people standing calmly, and fell into utter despair.

……

Meanwhile, in the wilderness on the outskirts of the city.

Little Fish led a large group of modified assassins on a frantic race, his heart filled with rage and murderous intent, determined to find Lin Ping and fight him to the death.

They rushed all the way to the ruins of the secondary stronghold, but the surroundings were empty, and there was not even a trace of Lin Ping.

All that remained on the ground were the bewildered martial arts cultivators who had been liberated, and the remnants of their subordinates who had been beaten to the ground.

The little fish stopped abruptly, its mechanical right eye flashing wildly.

"Something's wrong... it's an empty game!"

She realized it instantly!

Destroying the secondary stronghold was not Lin Ping's real purpose; it was merely a bait to lure the enemy away from their base!

The next second, a surviving soldier left behind at the stronghold came running in a disheveled state, his voice hoarse and terrified.

"Young Master! Something terrible has happened! Our headquarters has been broken into! The protective barrier in the secret chamber is malfunctioning! The real and fake Holy Maidens are facing off—"

He hadn't finished speaking.

Little Fish's face turned deathly pale instantly, his mechanical body crackling and popping, overwhelming fear instantly extinguishing all his anger.

"Damn it!!"

She fell for their trap!

Lin Ping did not react passively at all, was not defeated by public opinion, and did not indulge in personal feelings from beginning to end.

All his feigned weakness, all his indulgence, all his apparent deception were nothing but a shocking deception—a classic case of playing dumb to outsmart others!

He deliberately bore the infamy, deliberately tolerated the traitor, and deliberately allowed the scheme to unfold, all for this moment—to empty her stronghold, dismantle all her trump cards, and tear off all her pretenses in front of her!

"Lin Ping! I will kill you!"

Little Fish roared fiercely, turned around, and led everyone in a frantic retreat back to the base camp.

His speed was extreme, and the murderous intent in his eyes was frenzied to the extreme.

……

Inside the secret chamber of the Illuminati.

Lin Ping helped Zhen Shen Aoxue up, his movements gentle and natural.

Zhen Shen Aoxue said softly, "I knew you wouldn't let me stay trapped here forever."

"I'm sorry to have troubled you," Lin Ping said softly.

The fake Shen Aoxue, who was lying on the ground, watched the tender scene between the two, and her hatred took root. A crazy and sinister look flashed in her eyes.

She knew that her defeat was inevitable and there was no chance of a comeback.

But within her body lies the deepest symbiotic forbidden seal of Little Fish.

This is the last trump card!

She slowly raised her hand, a faint, unnoticed crimson light gathering at her fingertips, and a sinister smile curled at the corner of her lips.

You dismantle my disguise and break my plan.

Then I will detonate the Symbiotic Seal and drag everyone down with me!

In the distance, the roar of machinery drew ever closer; Little Fish's army had already stormed back to the gates of their stronghold!

The ultimate deadlock, locked in an instant.