Chapter 402: Serving a Ruler Is Like Serving a Tiger

Kunlun Immortal Palace.

Hua Jin’s eyes flew open as she stared at the incense altar.

Crack!

A soul lamp on the table shattered.

Startled, she stood up and stepped to the altar in disbelief. “Li Buyi’s soul lamp shattered… He’s been killed? How is that possible?!”

Li Buyi was at the late stage of the Golden Core. As long as he didn’t run into a guardian beast from the Demon-Sealing Tower, he should’ve been nearly unstoppable right now.

More importantly, Li Buyi wasn’t supposed to die at this point in time.

She had taken disciples like Wang Shouyi and Li Buyi as her personal disciples not just because of their talent, but because their fate was exceptionally strong—they were destined to live over a thousand years and could be of great use to her.

But now Li Buyi was dead.

And this shouldn’t have happened.

A chill ran through Hua Jin’s heart.

She picked up a shard of the broken soul lamp and retrieved a formation disk. Placing both together, she began reciting an incantation.

The stars shifted—the secrets of the heavens leaked slightly.

Fragments of Li Buyi’s final moments flashed through her mind.

“From the Sword Pavilion—Su Qinian! Li Buyi, your game’s up. Time to die!”

“Tsk, if you’d really summoned a god, this would've been trouble. But too bad... the Grandmaster thought of everything~”

The images revealed two masked individuals in black.

One man, one woman—both wielding greatswords, claiming to be from the Sword Pavilion.

They were the ones who killed Li Buyi.

“Sword cultivators using greatswords... Sword Pavilion…” Hua Jin frowned in thought. Then a realization hit her.

Last time, during the massacre of sect leaders at Jiaolong Lake, the culprits had also included sword cultivators wielding greatswords.

Kunlun Immortal Palace also had greatsword techniques, but only they practiced such methods.

However, both the techniques used in the lake massacre and in Li Buyi’s death were completely different from the palace’s Collapsing Mountain Sword Technique.

The killers of Li Buyi today were most likely the same group as the ones who attacked at Jiaolong Lake.

They all used swords, and were highly skilled in swordsmanship—very consistent with the name “Sword Pavilion.”

“But... there’s no sect called Sword Pavilion among the hidden ones.”

There was no record of any Sword Pavilion now—or in the past.

So where did this Sword Pavilion come from?

“Surely it’s not from another world’s sect?” she scoffed at her own idea.

That thought flickered and vanished.

Even if another-world sect existed, they had no grudges with her side—why target Jiaolong Lake? Why go out of their way to kill Li Buyi?

Things had spiraled completely beyond her control—and comprehension.

After a moment of silence, Hua Jin took Li Buyi’s broken soul lamp and entered a secret passage.

At the end was a hidden chamber.

At its center stood a statue—not of Kunlun Immortal Palace’s ancestors, nor any known deity or Buddha.

The statue’s gender was indiscernible. Its frame was skeletal, back slightly hunched, arms hanging straight down at its sides.

But the most chilling feature was its head—it had three faces:

One was blank, without a single facial feature.

The second was ferocious, like a rakshasa from the depths of hell.

The third was serene and benevolent, radiating warmth like spring breeze—yet it was not quite divine, not quite Buddhist, an unnatural fusion that felt eerie and wrong.

Hua Jin lowered her head as she walked past the blank face, turned past the demonic one, and only raised her gaze when she faced the serene divine-like side.

A meditation mat lay at the statue’s feet. She lit a stick of incense, knelt down, and bowed three times.

“Reporting to the Honored One—your servant has urgent news.”

She remained kneeling, head bowed, as the incense smoke suddenly rose straight up.

The statue, previously still, began to move.

Its head tilted downward slightly, faint light glimmering from its once-shut eyes.

A voice rang in Hua Jin’s mind—a distorted blend of male and female, beastly growls, and ghostly howls:

“What matter requires reporting?”

“Replying to the Honored One,” Hua Jin said with utmost reverence, “One of the planned keys for opening the Well of Heaven has died. His name was Li Buyi—he was this servant’s personal disciple.”

“The destined cannot die. These keys were all chosen for their thousand-year lifespans. Are you certain you didn’t make a mistake?”

The pressure in that voice made Hua Jin tremble.

This Kunlun Palace Master—held in such high esteem—was now shivering on her knees, lips quivering.

“I’m sure. He’s truly dead. The soul lamp is shattered—there’s not even a trace of soul left. The enemy was merciless and didn’t give Li Buyi a chance to escape.”

“You mean... this is a variable?!”

The voice suddenly sharpened.

Hua Jin dared not speak—her silence confirmed it.

She expected rage.

But instead, after a pause, she heard... laughter.

A sharp, jarring cackle—like wire scraping across glass—sly and greedy:

“A variable! Hahaha! Another variable!”

“Who?! Who are they? Speak!!”

A crushing force swept in from all directions, lifting Hua Jin off the ground, tearing at her body.

The world around her shifted.

She found herself in a star-filled cosmic expanse, deep blue halos pulsing from the void.

Then—massive figures emerged.

Towering entities surrounded by galaxies, with rivers of stars cascading from their shoulders like veils.

Hua Jin was petrified.

Even a peak Void Severing cultivator like her was utterly powerless against this force.

She had a dreadful feeling—hesitate for even a second, and her physical body might be ripped to shreds.

“Sword Pavilion!” she cried out through the pain. “They claimed to be from the Sword Pavilion. One of them was a female sword cultivator named Su Qinian. I know nothing else…”

BOOM—!

The stars shattered. Hua Jin crashed hard to the ground.

The overwhelming pressure vanished.

The statue returned to stillness.

Then, the sharp laughter gave way to a calm, deep voice:

“Hua Jin, continue gathering information on these variables. If you manage to capture anyone from the Sword Pavilion… the right to ascend will be yours.”

Ascension...

Hua Jin’s eyes lit up.

If she could become a celestial being, she’d escape reincarnation—rise above the cycle of life and death.

Even as a servant, it would be better than the despair of having her memories wiped with each rebirth.

Only because of her special status did she know this much.

Other Ascenders were like ephemeral insects—born and gone in a blink, unaware of their own fates.

“This servant obeys!” Hua Jin prostrated herself joyfully, bowing repeatedly on the mat.

“One more thing. I told you to keep an eye on that Chen Huaian of the Exorcist Division. What have you found?”

The deep voice rang out again.

“Nothing unusual,” Hua Jin shook her head. “The death of Di Jiang may have been coincidence. That Chen Huaian hasn’t shown any anomalies since. However, my personal disciple Wang Shouyi is at his side. If anything happens, he’ll report to me. Please rest assured.”

“I see...”

Silence returned.

The statue ceased all movement.

Hua Jin let out a breath of relief—they had left.

She kept her head lowered as she backed away from the statue, exited the secret tunnel, and sealed the passage behind her.

The brightness and fresh air of the outer room felt like she’d been reborn.

“Serving a ruler really is like serving a tiger.”

Hua Jin muttered bitterly, shaking her head.

Even as the Palace Master of Kunlun Immortal Palace...

Before those beings, even the gods and Buddhas of the heavens were mere ants.