Chapter 22: Unraveling the Past
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Chapter 22: Unraveling the Past
Tian Mo sat alone in the dimly lit study, the faint glow of the moonlight filtering through the expansive windows of his mansion. His fingers drummed lightly on the armrest of his chair, his thoughts swirling like the dark Qi that permeated the air around him.
In the distance, he could feel the city below him buzzing with life, the quiet hum of the chaos that had begun to blossom at his command. Yet, despite the outward calm, there was an unsettling sense of unrest that gnawed at the back of his mind.
His empire was growing, yes, but the shadows of his past had begun to stir. The deeper he dug into the cultivation world, the more he realized that there were forces even darker than those he had already crushed. Forces from his previous life. Entities that knew him far better than he knew himself.
He had thought he had left that life behind when he reincarnated on Earth. But the truth was far more complex. His enemies were still alive, still searching for the very thing he had come to possess: the power to ascend. The power to reach the Immortal Realm. And the secrets of his past, locked away for so long, were beginning to surface, each one threatening to tear apart the empire he had worked so hard to build.
He was interrupted by the soft sound of footsteps approaching, delicate yet deliberate. The door to the study creaked open, and Anna stepped inside, her figure framed by the doorway. Her eyes gleamed with an intensity that both excited and unsettled him. She was the one who had been working to infiltrate Earth's most influential circles, but there was something more to her now—something different.
"My lord," Anna began, her voice smooth, her lips curving into a seductive smile, "there's someone here to see you."
Tian Mo raised an eyebrow, his gaze never leaving the papers scattered across the desk. "Who?" he asked, his tone barely above a whisper.
"A woman," Anna said, her voice almost teasing. "She claims to know you. From your past."
At that, Tian Mo's posture stiffened, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose. He pushed the papers aside and stood, his movements deliberate and controlled. A wave of cold energy washed over him, a subtle but palpable shift in the air.
"Bring her in," he commanded, his voice low, laced with danger.
Anna disappeared from the room, and moments later, a figure appeared in the doorway—her silhouette draped in the shadows of the hallway.
She stepped forward, and the dim light illuminated her features.
Tian Mo froze.
It was a face he had not seen in centuries—a face that haunted his memories.
Her eyes, once full of warmth and love, now burned with something else. Betrayal. Anger. And something deeper that he couldn't quite place.
"Do you remember me, Tian Mo?" she asked, her voice thick with emotion, though she kept a composed expression.
He could feel the air in the room grow heavier with each word.
"Xia Lian…" he murmured under his breath.
The name was like a blade to his chest. A name tied to the past he had tried so desperately to bury. Xia Lian was once the woman he had loved, once the one person who had shared in his ambitions. But that love had been shattered, destroyed by the same ambitions that now drove him to conquer the world.
She had been the one to betray him first, the one who had aligned herself with his enemies when his path became too dark even for her. She had abandoned him when he needed her most. But now, standing before him, she had returned, and he could feel the weight of her presence like a storm about to break.
"You," Tian Mo said, his voice cold and composed. "I thought you were dead."
Xia Lian's lips curled into a bitter smile. "You thought you could erase me, but the past always catches up. You can never outrun the truth of what you've done."
Tian Mo's eyes narrowed, the coldness in his gaze growing sharper. "You have no right to judge me, Xia Lian. You left me. You betrayed me. And now, you come to me seeking something. What is it you want?"
She stepped closer, her aura shifting with every step. The air between them thickened as the raw energy of their shared history crackled. "I didn't come for anything, Tian Mo. I came to warn you. There are those out there who know you—who know what you've become—and they won't stop until they bring you down. They're coming, and this time, I won't be the one to save you."
Tian Mo's lips curled into a twisted smile, a dark laugh escaping his throat. "Save me? You have no power to save me, Xia Lian. And if you think you can threaten me with these empty words, you've already lost."
Xia Lian's eyes flashed with fury. "You don't understand, do you? The darkness inside you—the one you've embraced so willingly—it has consequences. It's not just the power you seek that others want. It's you. Your very existence threatens everything. You're a danger to more than just this world. If you keep going down this path, you'll bring down everything in your wake."
Tian Mo's gaze grew darker, his aura flaring. "I don't fear consequences. I don't fear anything."
Xia Lian hesitated, then took a step back. "Then, you will fall. And when you do, I will be the one to watch. Just remember, Tian Mo: the higher you rise, the harder you fall."
With that, she turned and left, her steps fading into the silence of the night.
Tian Mo stood there, alone once more, but now with a new weight on his shoulders. Xia Lian's words echoed in his mind, but he pushed them away. He would not be deterred. He had sacrificed too much. He had come too far.
But deep down, he could feel the storm brewing, the dark forces that threatened to destroy everything he had worked so hard to build.
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Status Update:
Tian Mo: Nascent Soul (Peak Stage) | Primordial Chaos Technique | Empire Consolidation in Progress
Xia Lian: Former ally, now a threat | Knowledge of Tian Mo's past
Anna: Infiltrating the high society | Preparing to seduce Elena Zhou
Lian Hua: Trusted Lieutenant | Strengthening her cultivation
Yin Hua: Preparing for internal power struggles | Building internal network
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