Chapter 31: Severing the Path Ahead

Thunder rumbled violently overhead.
A dancing silver snake of lightning illuminated the entire arena.
Su Ziye, who had remained silent and merely watched from the sidelines, finally spoke up at this moment.
"Although I am not sure whether begging you will make you let me out first, I suppose it should."
During the previous family dramatic confrontation, Su Ziye truly had no room to interject at all.
Yet now, the matter concerned his very survival, leaving him no choice but to ask.
After all, Su Ziye really did not want to die here. By now, he had built up a certain degree of shared affection with Christina, and he had even laid eyes upon half of her body; surely, no matter what, Christina would remember some of their past camaraderie, wouldn't she?
"That is why you are such a mood-killer." Christina turned her head to give him a single, brief glance, then looked toward Yilanshan: "Lord Mountain Master is one of the smartest people in this world, so he will make the wisest choice."
Yilanshan stood in place, letting out a slight sigh.
He looked at Christina: "Your Highness the Prince, do not be anxious. I, for one, have no desire to die here either."
"It's just that I cannot help feeling a certain amount of lingering reluctance."
"Would it be possible for me to test what realm you have currently reached, just so I can put my mind completely at rest?"
Yilanshan said this.
Christina had displayed the ability to effortlessly knock down a cultivator of the Tianshi realm in an instant. In Su Ziye's view, even Xingxi probably could not have accomplished such a feat with such casual ease.
Moreover, she had knocked them unconscious rather than killing them. Considering the targets were Christina's own biological parents, this was likely even harder than simply killing them.
After all, this amounted to capturing them alive.
Yilanshan could not be sure whether this was a double act performed by Christina and her parents. Although the probability was extremely low, he still wished to test Christina's true strength.
Only by doing so could Yilanshan depart without any lingering regrets.
He had already decided to back down, since he was certain that Christina was genuinely prepared to drag everyone down with her in mutual destruction.
Yet, even so, he still felt somewhat unreconciled.
Christina smiled faintly, lowering her gaze to look at him: "As for my realm, I am still a ninth-grade mage, and that will likely never change in the future."
Saying this, she raised a hand and gently tapped her own chest.
The young girl's outer garment was a white coat woven entirely from magical power. At this moment, the magic curled and dissipated outward, revealing the right side of her chest.
Upon the young girl's fair skin, right over her heart, lay an exquisitely magnificent flower woven from blood-red threads.
Gazing at that blood-red blossom, Yilanshan understood something in an instant.
"Where is your heart?" Yilanshan asked, staring at Christina.
"Burned away," Christina replied calmly. "His Highness the Prince can vouch for me."
"When did you do this?" Yilanshan murmured.
Even he could not believe that Christina would actually subject herself to such an act.
She was the Alaya-識 after all!
An Alaya-识 of a sub-sage, an existence capable of saving an entire race all by herself.
"About half an hour ago," Christina said indifferently. "This is called the Exquisite Heart, and it serves as the control hub for the entire Palace of Black and White. Therefore, please allow me to decline the Mountain Master's request to test my realm. After all, I am still exceedingly weak; once the Mountain Master breaches my defense, I will die instantly, and the Palace of Black and White will perish along with me."
Half an hour ago.
Yilanshan let out a sigh.
"Why must you go this far? By doing this, you may never make the slightest bit of progress for the rest of your life."
This also meant that Christina might remain at the pitiful level of a ninth-grade mage for her entire existence.
After all, the heart was one of the most vital organs in the human body—arguably the most vital, with no exceptions. All cultivation methods were inextricably linked to the heart, and Christina's choice to abandon her heart and replace it with the Exquisite Heart could certainly grant her the power to alter her destiny overnight, but it also meant she would forever lose the ability to tap into the body's hidden treasures and become a true powerhouse in the genuine sense.
One must remember that Christina was an Alaya-识. Even if her innate cultivation talent were low, ascending to the Heavenly Realm would have been as easy as turning her hand, let alone the fact that her current cultivation level was merely the result of her intentionally suppressing her own training speed.
Yet now, Christina had chosen to thoroughly sever her future path in order to gain the power to alter her destiny and the ending at this very moment.
"I have said it many times: I do not like this world at all, because this world does not like me at all," Christina said with a faint smile. Regarding this matter alone, she cared not a single whit.
"So then, Lord Mountain Master, please give me your final decision."
Yilanshan looked at her.
No matter who it was, everyone was thoroughly subdued by Christina's calmness and brilliance at this moment.
She had completely severed her path ahead, using absolute coldness and resolution to reshape the outcome of this place.
No one could resist her like this.
Nor could anyone reject her request.
Because she was truly capable of dying right before your eyes, and taking you with her into death.
"I agree," Yilanshan said calmly. "I agree to all your conditions, but on one single demand."
"What demand?" Christina asked calmly.
Though perhaps she already knew what demand Yilanshan would put forward.
"This operation in West City caused irreparable damage to the Crawford family, and West City itself suffered heavy losses as well," Yilanshan stated. "However, West City still has no wish to make an enemy of you. In the future, West City will never attempt any hostile actions, and is even willing to forge an alliance with you."
"In exchange for this, we seek your forgiveness and friendship."
No one wished to offend an Alaya-识.
Even Dark Star had deliberately set the ultimate goal of this mission as ensuring that the Alaya-识 would not harbor hostility toward Dark Star.
Su Ziye had not understood this originally, but now he understood completely.
The young girl before him had managed to carve out a path of survival from such a dead end at the mere age of fourteen. If the future truly unfolded as she claimed, with her rising to absolute dominance over the entire Crawford family, then who would ever dare to act as her enemy?
Christina sighed. "I agree, and I am willing to swear an oath with you to that effect."
An oath sworn between Christina and Yilanshan naturally carried absolute binding force, to the extent that even Yilanshan felt thoroughly reassured. However, before that, Su Ziye still asked somewhat anxiously: "Can you also swear an oath regarding what you promised me?"
After all, when Christina had mentioned it originally, it had seemed almost like a casual remark in passing.
Christina smiled and looked at him.
"Your Highness the Prince."
"What I am giving you is a thousand times, ten thousand times heavier than any oath."
Su Ziye's heart finally settled. Recalling it further, Christina's attitude toward him was indeed exceptionally unique; almost no one else could compare to the special treatment he received. She had even allowed him to stand by and witness the ritual of removing her heart to replace it with the Exquisite Heart, while barring him from doing anything else.
Once the oath was settled, Yilanshan felt at ease and could not help asking one final question before leaving.
"How do you plan to deal with your parents?"
"If you do not mind, I can take them away so that they will never cross paths with you again."
Yilanshan was acting out of consideration for Christina.
Yet Christina calmly shook her head, pronouncing her final verdict.
"Noct and Stella."
"For rebelling against the family as the primary culprits, they shall be imprisoned here."
"For all eternity."