Engagement

Seeing this, Bai Luoxia sighed softly.

She then clasped her hands together, and as countless blue particles surged inward, an ethereal scale suddenly appeared in her hands.

[Relic of Authority—Scale of Law!]

An azure radiance spread continuously from the young woman’s hands.

As the pillar of light flowed forth, the previously corrupted imperial palace was instantly purified, creating a stalemate against the Abyss’s influence.

“Hahahaha! So… so you are the wielder of the Relic of Authority! Excellent… excellent! You’ve saved me the trouble of hunting you down. Very good indeed!”

“Let me see if you, the inheritor, are truly worthy of this Relic of Authority!”

In an instant, ropes symbolizing madness lashed out at Bai Luoxia from all directions.

She gave them a passing glance, and countless azure chains collided with them, filling the depths of the palace with a piercing sound.

Bai Luoxia looked at the figure suspended in mid-air, took a step back, and assumed a familiar-looking stance.

A length of chain slowly appeared in her hand, which she then threw with force.

[Inch Force—Sundering Heaven]

A simple yet brutal throwing technique was imbued upon it, giving the Hanged Man no time to react.

His body was once again destroyed.

But this was clearly not enough.

To an Apostle of the Abyss, life was the most worthless thing.

Only madness and chaos could bring them joy!

‘It seems that a mere [Gold Vein]-tier clone is still not quite enough.’

With the boost from the Relic of Authority, Bai Luoxia had already broken through the level of [Gold Vein] Tier 2 and officially entered the realm of [Gold Vein] Tier 3, just one step away from [True Manifestation].

[Scale of Law—Order is Eternal!]

As the scale in the young woman’s hand began to turn once more, a blue light seemed to blanket the entire world.

“I place my soul upon the scale and plead for the advent of order!”

In that moment, the Hanged Man suddenly found himself standing on a massive scale, surrounded by an endless void.

Bai Luoxia’s figure stood quietly on the other side, not far away, looking at him with a merciless expression.

The rules of the Scale of Law were simple and brutal.

In short, it placed both parties on the same scale by comparing the purity of their souls.

Those heavy with sin would be sanctioned by order, while those with goodness in their hearts would receive its tolerance.

That was how it was supposed to work.

But as fate would have it, its current wielder was Bai Luoxia herself.

This meant that for any individual within her perception, as long as she deemed their soul to be sinful, the judgment of the [Law] would follow.

“In that case… let the judgment begin!”

The two figures stood on opposite ends of the scale, but it was obvious that, due to Bai Luoxia’s underhanded manipulations, the Hanged Man’s platform was significantly lower than hers.

‘Seriously… are you going to play this dirty?’

In his current state, the [Scale of Law] was far too dangerous for him.

It was a Relic of Authority, a supreme power forged from the remains of gods.

It was not something he, in his current form, could rashly provoke.

But fortunately… he had a trump card.

The Hanged Man slowly pulled back his hood, revealing a face that was incredibly familiar to Bai Luoxia.

“Xia… how have you… been lately?” Xisite said with a bitter smile.

The moment Bai Luoxia saw that familiar face, she froze on the spot.

At first, she thought it was a trick.

But no matter what method she used to check, she could only arrive at one answer—the person before her was Xisite himself, the one and only.

“You… how are you… weren’t you…” The young woman’s trembling voice caused the scale to waver.

Unwittingly, the two of them had already reached the same height.

“But am I not right here now?”

“The past doesn’t matter, only the present. Am I not standing right here, right now?”

“I’m sorry, Xia. All these years… I… I’ve made you suffer.”

“No… that’s not it… I’ve been doing fine these past few years…”

“It’s just… after you left… I was a little lonely… that’s all.”

“It’s alright now… everything is alright… I’m back. You don’t have to be alone anymore,” Xisite comforted her gently.

“Sleep… when you wake up, everything will be back to how it was. I promise.”

“Mm, I believe you.”

The domain of the Scale shattered with a roar.

At this moment, the only one left standing on the field was the Hanged Man, a smile on his face.

“What a pity. Her will is still too weak,” the Hanged Man said with a helpless tone.

“Next, the first Relic of Authority will be mine.”

The Hanged Man’s palm slowly reached for the unconscious Bai Luoxia.

But just in the nick of time, a clear voice came from above.

A white-haired young man stood atop the dome, smiling down at the Hanged Man below.

“Sir, doing something like that to an unconscious young lady is not very gentlemanly.”

“You are…” The Hanged Man looked at the white-haired youth perched high above, feeling a sense of confusion.

He had no memory of such a person.

Since this person had the ability to last until now, it meant they were certainly no small fry.

‘Could it be… a backup plan from Rhine?’

‘Impossible. That old bastard’s reach shouldn’t extend this far.’

While the Hanged Man’s thoughts were racing, Sui Ming had already leaped down from above.

“La’er! Light him up!”

“Roger!”

A loud explosion suddenly erupted next to the Hanged Man, and the thick smell of sulfuric acid filled the air.

“An alchemical bomb? Is that all?”

However, the Hanged Man suddenly felt his body go numb, as if he had been caught in an electric net.

“Come on! Duel me!” Sui Ming’s figure charged fiercely toward the Hanged Man, looking completely unafraid of death.

“So… foolish.”

A multicolored rope instantly whipped towards Sui Ming.

But the latter’s reaction was bizarre.

Faced with the attack, he neither dodged nor took any defensive measures, instead standing silently in place like a statue.

Just as the chain was about to make contact with Sui Ming, a strange scene occurred.

Sui Ming’s body dissipated like a phantom in the breeze.

The Hanged Man turned his head and saw the white-haired youth, who should have died from that attack, now standing behind him, giving him the kind of look one gives an idiot.

“You dare… trick me?”

After casually tossing aside the holographic projector La’er had invented, Sui Ming ran like a madman towards Bai Luoxia and swept her up into his arms.

“La’er! Time to bail!”

The young boy operating the equipment on the dome heard Sui Ming’s call and immediately pressed a button.

In the next instant, Sui Ming and Bai Luoxia’s figures dissolved into countless pale blue particles and vanished, leaving behind a completely dumbfounded Hanged Man standing alone.

‘f*cking cowboy tactics! So they just played me for a fool and pulled a hit-and-run, huh?’