HPDBC 228. I’m The Master Of My Own Destiny
228. I’m The Master Of My Own Destiny
Lan’s daughter’s aura tore through Jin Shu’s soul space, nearly blasting the three souls apart from pressure alone. They barely managed to hold on until the initial wave subsided.“Roar!”
Long Xue Ling expanded to its full length, allowing Jin Shu to stand upon its head like a heavenly emperor. His hands blurred as he constructed powerful formations—ones he could never have sustained in reality. But within his soul space, his power was nearly infinite.
Shuang charged first, elemental energy streaming behind him like a comet’s tail.
Gold crouched at the rear, laying down cover fire with his illusory rifle. Within the soul space, its bullets were far deadlier than anything they could produce in reality—vanishing from the barrel and appearing before their target in the same instant.
And yet, the violet-eyed woman stood unmoving.
The bullets struck her soul body and bounced away as if they’d hit divine steel.
“I told you,” she said calmly. “My true power is unrestricted here. You are a mortal who has never glimpsed the immensity of heaven and earth. Your mind cannot comprehend the scale from which I look down upon you.”
“You might be surprised,” Shuang said, driving an element-fueled punch toward her.
She caught his fist casually.
Shaking her head with faint pity, she flicked her wrist.
Shuang was sent flying.
She’s strong. Very strong, Shuang warned mentally.
“Roar!”
Jin Shu completed a formation atop Long Xue Ling’s head—only for the dragon spirit to swallow it whole.
“Hey! Now isn’t the time to eat our formation!” Jin Shu snapped.
The violet-eyed woman covered her mouth with her sleeve and laughed, watching with casual amusement.
Long Xue Ling immediately sent a mental apology. It had reacted on instinct. A heartbeat later, it spat the formation back out.
“Interesting,” she murmured. “I’ve seen dragon spirits before. I’ve even met the patriarch of the Azure Dragon Clan. But this is my first time seeing one formed from blood… and one that eats formations.”
Jin Shu’s heart skipped. Azure Dragon Clan? Is that the same one as our Azure Dragon Clan? But there was no time to dwell on it.
He had far more pressing matters at hand—like survival, for one.
He activated the formation.
Blinding light flooded the soul space. When it faded, the empty white void had transformed into soaring mountains and endless forests.
“Oh?” The woman tapped her chin. “Boundless Nature Formation. Interesting. Very interesting.”
She smiled faintly. “You’ve successfully surprised me. What is your name?”
“Isn’t it polite to introduce yourself before asking someone else’s?”
She inclined her head. “Fair. My name is Wang Yue—it represents the moon’s reflection in a deep pool.”
She smiled again. “Pretty, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Jin Shu admitted. “My name’s Jin Shu. No special meaning.”
He shrugged. As far as he knew, his mother had simply liked the sound of it.
“Well then, Jin Shu,” Wang Yue said lightly. “I don’t have much time. So if you don’t mind—let’s end this.”
She took a single step.
And appeared above him.
Jin Shu’s pupils shrank as she looked down at him and Long Xue Ling with icy detachment.
He activated the formation’s true power.
This world was his. In it he was God!
Mountains trembled as Jin Shu and Long Xue Ling expanded—Jin Shu growing to hundreds of meters tall, Long Xue Ling stretching endlessly through the sky. Hidden among the peaks and forests, Gold and Shuang readied their full strength.
They now towered over Wang Yue.
Yet her expression didn’t change.
She hovered there calmly, as if she were the master of the universe—and they were nothing more than scenery.
Jin Shu’s aura expanded in proportion to his growing body.
It began at the Spirit Realm, climbing steadily until it reached the peak of the Sage Realm—the final cultivation stage attainable by mortals.
“What do you hope to accomplish with that little bit of cultivation?” Wang Yue asked, clicking her tongue in disappointment.
But his aura didn’t stop.
It surged past the mortal limit and crossed directly into the Immortal Realm.
Her eyes widened—just a fraction.
“You’ve met an immortal before?”
Jin Shu didn’t answer. He focused entirely on reining in his newfound power.
The sensation was overwhelming. Even knowing it was artificial, the feeling of immortality warped his perception. The world felt clearer, deeper—layers of reality peeling back as if he could finally see how everything truly functioned.
With a casual tap of his finger, dozens of formations bloomed into existence.
They flared with vivid color as they activated—illusory swords tearing through the air, sound-based formations releasing bone-rattling vibrations, and countless other effects unfolding at once like a kaleidoscope.
The barrage swallowed Wang Yue whole.
Yet Jin Shu knew it was ineffective.
The next instant, she reappeared exactly where she had been before—untouched.
“My turn,” she said sweetly.
She vanished.
Then reappeared inches from his face.
Her finger extended lazily, tapping his forehead so lightly it almost felt gentle. The motion was impossibly fast. His mind barely registered it before—
Bang!
His consciousness, along with his head, detonated.
Far away, a mountain exploded.
Jin Shu’s head reformed on his shoulders.
He staggered, drenched in cold sweat.
That attack had killed him—truly killed him. But as long as he remained within the Boundless Nature Formation, death could not claim him. Each resurrection consumed a portion of the surrounding world. However, once the land was exhausted…
Only true death would remain.
Bang!
A .50 BMG round slammed into Wang Yue’s forehead.
Gold’s shot carried terrifying force, snapping her head backward and nearly twisting her neck apart. When she straightened again, the flattened bullet slid uselessly from her skin, leaving behind only a faint red mark that slowly faded.
“Ouch,” she said mildly, rubbing the spot.
The world erupted.
Vines surged from the forest and wrapped around her body. Sunlight condensed into searing beams that scorched her flesh. Storm clouds churned overhead, hurling razor-edged wind, needle-thin streams of water, and crackling lightning.
Wang Yue brushed it all aside.
She reached toward Jin Shu once more.
Long Xue Ling burst through the clouds and swallowed her whole—only to convulse violently. The dragon spirit spat her out as its body began to swell from within, threatening to rupture entirely.
“Struggling is pointless,” Wang Yue said calmly. “You’re only prolonging your suffering. Hand over one soul, and I’ll leave after sealing it.”
“Sorry,” Jin Shu replied, steadying himself. “Giving up without a fight isn’t in my nature.”
She sighed.
“I’ve given you more than enough consideration for the assistance you rendered to my mother and little brother. Unfortunately, you refuse to comply. What happens next is entirely your own fault.”
Her body split.
Four figures stepped forward—each identical in form, yet unmistakably different.
The first retained her violet eyes and cold composure.
The second bore deep blue eyes and a cheerful, almost carefree smile.
The third had crimson eyes twisted with violent intent.
The fourth, with pure white eyes, identical to Lan’s—wore a perfectly blank expression.
“Let me tell you,” the violet-eyed Wang Yue said calmly. “Our family cultivates emotions. We often descend to lower realms like yours to experience them in their purest state—emotions born from finite, mortal lives.”
“But love,” she continued, “is the one emotion we never touch. It is a taboo passed down through thousands of generations.”
“Do you know why?” she asked.
Jin Shu shook his head. How could he possibly know the secrets of an immortal family’s cultivation path?
“Because love always ends in pain,” the blue-eyed Wang Yue said softly.
“We exist in the highest realm, far removed from mortals,” the red-eyed Wang Yue continued, her grin feral. “That is why we must lower ourselves to places like this. Not even destiny would allow a mortal to defy the heavens and ascend to our realm.”
“Therefore,” the white-eyed Wang Yue concluded flatly, “you and our mother could never be together. Abandon your foolish fantasies and accept reality.”
Jin Shu blinked.
“Uh… hold on,” he said slowly. “I think you’ve misunderstood something. I’m not in love with your mother. I never was, and I never will be.”
He genuinely couldn’t fathom where this assumption had come from.
“I’ve known her for less than a day. Sure, she’s beautiful—but I already have enough beautiful women in my life. If this is about that nonsense Jiao was spouting about me marrying your mom, then we can drop it right now.”
Wang Yue shook her head.
“You may not love her now,” she said. “But you will.”
She paused, then added coldly, “Unless you hand over one of your souls.”
Jin Shu frowned. “That makes no sense. How would I fall in love with someone I can’t even meet?”
“The Red String of Fate will ensure it.”
She waved her hand.
The red thread tied around Jin Shu’s finger—long since vanished—reappeared, glowing faintly.
“Your souls are already linked. My mother is suppressing the string’s effects for now, but that is not a permanent solution. Her power will wane. Fate will assert itself.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“But if I seal the string along with one of your souls, its influence will never surface.”
Jin Shu finally understood.
Objectively, surrendering a single soul was a small price to pay. Logical. Efficient. Safe.
But logic wasn’t everything.
He’d already lived one life bound by destiny—by Long Jinshu’s choices, by his mother’s manipulation, by forces that decided his path for him.
He clenched his fist.
As cliché as it sounded—
He was the master of his own destiny.