The Demon with Holy Radiance

The first thing to hide was, of course, his weakness. He couldn’t return to his main body by simply killing this vessel. Activating the vessel’s teleportation was a possibility, but it required time—a detail he could not afford to reveal.

This way, as long as the Golden Sun Daoist knew he was just a clone, there would be nothing the Daoist could do to him. All he had to do was find the right opportunity to leave.

Upon hearing Yang An’s words, the Golden Sun Daoist fell silent.

He would never have guessed that Yang An had already seen through his ruse. He just hadn’t expected Yang An to come here as a mere clone. ’This kid is far too cautious!’

The tables had turned, and now the Golden Sun Daoist was caught in a bind. He couldn’t move forward—he was damned if he responded and damned if he didn’t.

After a long moment, he let out a soft sigh.

"If that is the case, then you may take the Golden Sun and leave. But without my protection, I fear you will face unpredictable dangers. If you meet with an accident, I doubt another person capable of fusing with the Three Spiritual Light will appear before this world collapses completely. It is a grave crisis!"

The Golden Sun Daoist’s words took Yang An by surprise.

He was acting like a compassionate elder, lamenting the world’s impending collapse and his own helplessness to stop it.

’Is he trying to pressure me with the fate of the entire world?’

’Go on, then! Keep up the act!’

At this point, Yang An saw himself as a silent observer watching a play, and he found it all rather amusing.

"Since that’s the case, then I thank you, Senior. I shall take my leave now, return to my main body as soon as possible, and complete the task you could not. I will not fail you!"

Yang An gave a respectful bow, playing along with the Daoist’s scheme as he prepared to depart.

Having said his piece, he waited quietly for the Golden Sun Daoist to dispel the light that enveloped them and provide him an exit.

Immediately after, the Golden Sun Daoist nodded slightly. With a casual lift of his hand, the light that had enveloped the entire cave dissipated, and everything returned to normal.

Loose rock had fallen and the cave had partially collapsed, but the exit, right before Yang An’s eyes, was not blocked.

The Golden Sun Daoist heaved another long sigh and waved a hand at Yang An. The next moment, his form rapidly dissipated, vanishing before Yang An’s eyes. His aura, too, was gone without a trace.

Yang An was surprised. He hadn’t expected this. He thought the Golden Sun Daoist would drop the pretense, fly into a rage, and reveal his true colors. Instead, he had actually let him go, just as he’d said he would.

’What is this guy up to? Is he trying to pull a "release to recapture" scheme?’

Though suspicious, Yang An knew he had to follow through on what he’d said.

He started walking toward the cave exit, his senses fully extended, cautiously watching his surroundings in case the Golden Sun Daoist launched a surprise attack.

One step, two steps...

Yang An counted down silently in his mind. He didn’t believe the Golden Sun Daoist would let him go so easily. There had to be another trick up his sleeve.

’Letting me walk away with the Forbidden Artifact Fragment just like that? What’s the angle? He can’t possibly think I’ll actually fuse with this Substitute Ghost Fragment when I get back, can he?’

"Three..."

"Two..."

Yang An drew closer and closer to the cave exit, chanting silently in his mind.

"One!"

Reaching the exit, he prepared to activate his Escape Technique.

Whether that guy reappeared or not, he could get a head start and escape. After that, he’d be free as a bird.

But just as Yang An’s countdown reached its final second, a faint light beginning to emanate from his body as he was about to activate the Escape Technique, an aura appeared in the cave—right on schedule.

’So he *was* faking it! He’s back!’

’But it’s too late. So long!’

Yang An’s figure vanished on the spot, escaping far away with the fragment in tow.

In less than the blink of an eye, Yang An’s figure left the cave and appeared in the mountain range of the Golden Thread Pavilion. Then, he vanished again, heading for the Pavilion’s exit.

At the same time, he once again triggered a violent surge of Mana within his body, using it to destroy this vessel and return to his main body.

The entire Golden Thread Pavilion was enveloped in a grand formation. To leave, directly destroying it was obviously not an option.

Chaos was still rampant within the Golden Thread Pavilion. The remaining guards were no match for the inmates who had been locked in the prison.

While he could use the chaos as a cover to escape through the Golden Thread Pavilion’s main exit, it would take time.

There was no telling what other tricks the Golden Sun Daoist might pull. The best course of action was to get out of here as quickly as possible, and killing this vessel to return to his main body was the fastest way to do that.

BOOM! With a deafening blast, Yang An’s body exploded in mid-air, turning into a cloud of ash that drifted down.

His consciousness rapidly faded into a hazy state. This was his first time destroying a vessel via suicide to return to his main body, so he’d never experienced the sensation before. He assumed it was a normal part of the process.

But when Yang An’s consciousness snapped back into focus and he saw his surroundings, he froze. He was still in the dark cave, still facing the exit.

He had clearly left the cave and killed the vessel, yet here he was again, in the exact same spot. It was as if time had reversed, or perhaps everything that had just happened was nothing more than a hallucination.

The aura that had appeared in the cave earlier was still present, and it felt as if it were staring daggers into his back.

Cold sweat broke out on Yang An’s face. He whipped around.

But the Golden Sun Daoist, whom he had expected to see, was not there. Standing behind him was someone he never would have imagined.

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