CHAPTER 14 (Part 2)
The Heart-Severing Immortal
The ancient elder leaned back.
The orb in Zheng Wen Te's palm shimmered again.
"This orb…"
"It is not treasure."
"It is not weapon."
"It is a key."
Zheng Wen Te looked down.
"A key?"
The elder nodded.
"A passage between karmic threads."
"When the time comes…"
"It will open the road to the one you abandoned."
Disciple Liu's voice was tense.
"But Elder… he is only an outer sect recruit."
"How can he survive an immortal world of that level?"
The stone-skinned elder scoffed.
"He won't."
The frost-haired woman said quietly:
"Or perhaps… that is the trial."
The ancient elder's gaze turned distant.
"The Creator called him the last prophet."
"That means…"
His voice lowered.
"This universe is already at its end."
A chill crawled through Zheng Wen Te's spine.
End?
The elder continued.
"The Earth is shattered."
"The myths are sealed."
"The heavens are wounded."
"And now…"
"A mortal man must resolve an immortal heartbreak."
Zheng Wen Te laughed softly.
A broken sound.
"…So ridiculous."
Then his laughter stopped.
His eyes hardened.
"But I will do it."
The ancient elder nodded once.
"Then listen carefully."
"The woman you abandoned…"
"She is no longer mortal."
"She is no longer waiting beneath a dead tree."
Zheng Wen Te's breath caught.
The elder's voice became grave.
"She has become something else."
Disciple Liu whispered:
"…A demon?"
The frost-haired elder answered:
"Or worse."
The ancient elder spoke the name like a curse.
"She is now known as…"
"The Heart-Severing Immortal."
Zheng Wen Te's blood ran cold.
Immortal.
Heart-severing.
A being born from love turned into hatred.
The elder's eyes locked onto his.
"If you fail again…"
"She will not simply leave you."
"She will destroy you."
The orb pulsed warmly.
Like fate laughing.
Zheng Wen Te whispered:
"…Then I won't fail."
Outside the Trial Chamber…
the mountain winds howled.
And somewhere far beyond this sect…
the Heart Pavilion waited.