Chapter 44: Traces of the Purple‑Robed Betrayer

Damn, what a melodramatic plot? We might have to risk our lives to save the world! Zhang Jun slammed the Heaven-Man Sword into the ground with a clatter, his tone full of dissent, the sword humming as he cursed alongside it.

Lin Xue rolled her eyes, reached out to grab the sword: "Cut the nonsense, hurry up and see if we can do something with this thing—we can't just wait to be sacrificed, right?"

"Asia Martial Arts League champion? Top dog of the global fighting scene? And he even became the CEO of a tech company?" Zhang Tian Gang smashed the control panel with a bang, the screen cracking instantly, still stained with the purple residue left after killing Long Tian Ba—just looking at it made you nauseous.

Zhang Tian Gang took a deep breath, trying to expel the foul air from his lungs: "If Yang Tian Xing is really possessed by that extraterrestrial spiritual consciousness, then… things are about to get overturned."

Lin Yue Hua struggled to stand up, the wound on her shoulder hurting so bad she winced, blood seeping through her fingers and dripping onto the ground, spreading into bloody blossoms that looked frightening.

Lin Xue quickly pressed her down: "Don't move! Stop the bleeding first!"

"We don't have time for this," Lin Yue Hua pushed her daughter's hand away, her voice hoarse, "We must find those ancient rune points and activate the energy field within three days, or else…"

She didn't go on, but everyone knew what terrifying things lay behind that "or else."

"The first rune point is in a cave deep within the Kunlun Mountains," Zhang Tian Gang said, pulling up a map and dragging his finger across the screen.

We need to hurry.

"Wait a minute," Zhang Jun said, raising the Heaven-Man Sword, its blade still trembling slightly as if it had come alive, "I want to try first to see if I can completely fuse the Yin Yang and Ice Soul Powers together."

He paused, then added: "That strike just now was pure luck—a blind cat finding a dead rat, total fluke."

Lin Xue nodded: "I think the same—maybe this is the 'cheat code' that lets us hack the game."

The two walked to the center of the energy chamber, stood facing each other, and placed their palms together.

This time, the Yin Yang and Ice Soul Powers were like a long‑separated couple, each within the other, no longer awkward as before.

Gold, black, and blue light intertwined, forming a huge energy vortex that enveloped them, the light growing brighter and brighter as if it were about to suck the whole world in.

Suddenly, Zhang Jun and Lin Xue widened their eyes, their consciousness feeling as if something had yanked them into a strange space.

There stood an ancient, solemn altar; on it were a man and a woman with their backs turned, faces unseen, but one could feel the overwhelming aura that made it hard to breathe.

They were the legendary ancient heavenly beings.

What happened next shattered Zhang Jun and Lin Xue's worldviews—they saw with their own eyes that the ancient heavenly beings were not voluntary sacrifices, but… had been betrayed by their own kind!

A guy in purple robes suddenly struck from behind, forcibly draining their power and placing a seal on them.

"Damn……" Zhang Jun's voice cracked, "Turns out it's not self‑sacrifice—it's a stab in the back!"

The two jerked out of the illusion, still processing what they'd seen, when a sudden boom echoed from deep within the base—as if something had exploded.

Everyone rushed over and saw only an ancient container encased in thick ice, which had cracked at some point and now lay shattered into fragments.

An old man radiating golden light slowly walked out of it.

He looked very old, his face lined with wrinkles, yet he bore the air of an immortal cultivator.

"It's you… who woke me, the last guardian." The mysterious figure scanned the room, his voice hoarse and low, filled with an indescribable sorrow.

"But do you know—the true purpose of the extraterrestrial spiritual consciousness isn't to rule Earth, but—"

Before he could finish, a purple column of light, as if it had eyes, descended from the sky, pierced the base's roof, and struck the mysterious figure squarely.

The old man didn't even grunt; he turned to ash in the purple light, leaving only an unfinished sentence and a ground full of question marks.

Zhang Jun looked at the pile of ash on the floor, twisted the corner of his mouth into a grin uglier than a cry: "Well, that's it—completely hopeless, all leads are gone."

Lin Xue, however, grabbed his hand, her fingertips icy yet strong: "Then… we'll find the clues ourselves."

The base's main computer suddenly turned on by itself, playing an old, grainy recording on the screen—blurry, with snowflakes flying everywhere, as if it had been dug out of a trash heap.

In the recording, a person in purple robes stood with their back to the camera before a huge floor‑to‑ceiling window, gazing out at the city—utterly the archetype of a behind‑the‑scenes boss.

"The person in purple robes……" Zhang Jun stared intently at the screen, trying to make out something from the blurry image.

"His last appearance was right here." Zhang Tian Gang pointed to a coordinate on the screen, his voice low and ominous.

That coordinate pointed straight to the top floor of the city's Financial Center Building—the headquarters of the Lin Clan.

"The Lin Clan……" Lin Yue Hua's face turned pale in an instant, as if recalling something unpleasant.

"My grandfather, Lin Tian You, when he started the business, always had a mysterious advisor by his side."

"That person never showed up on camera, wearing only a custom‑made purple suit, and everyone in the company called him 'Mister Purple'."

Lin Yue Hua's voice trembled slightly.

"The top floor of the Financial Center Building is the Lin Clan's boardroom."

"It… is shielded by a special energy field that ordinary people cannot enter."

Zhang Tian Gang drew a deep breath and said slowly: "Looks like someone dug a pit long ago, just waiting for us to fall into it."

"Special team, follow me to the Financial Center to meet this 'Mister Purple'." Zhang Tian Gang turned and gave the order to the standby troops behind him.

"We're going too," Zhang Jun and Lin Xue said in unison.

"No way! You stay behind, keep training and fuse your powers." Zhang Tian Gang refused without a second thought.

"But…"

"No buts!" Zhang Tian Gang cut off Zhang Jun's words, "This is an order—obey!"

After Zhang Tian Gang led the special team away, Zhang Jun and Lin Xue tried again to fuse the Yin Yang and Ice Soul Powers.

They adjusted their breathing and energy flow according to the vision they had just seen in the illusion.

The light ball grew brighter and larger, then suddenly burst with a bang.

A powerful energy wave surged outward from the two as its center.