This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 251 Star Lord

While Liang Zhenduan and his two companions struggled to survive in the illusion of the Civilized Cemetery, on the other side of the distant Central Plains, the confrontation had reached a fever pitch.

Ping Xingdou's followers surged forward like a tidal wave, launching an attack on Han Jiangxue and Yi Jian. Their eyes were fanatical, their movements were accompanied by a dazzling display of starlight, and the light from their various skills flashed and intertwined in the dim light.

"Damn it, to catch the thief, first catch the king!"

Yi Jian's eyes were sharp, and light gathered in his hand, transforming into the shape of a sniper rifle. His gun instantly locked onto Ping Xingdou, who was heavily protected in the distance. The energy around him began to boil, and the prelude to the burning of his attributes caused the air to distort slightly.

"Don't be impulsive!" Han Jiangxue's voice rang out just in time, and an ice wall rose up from the ground with a crack, blocking several deadly energy attacks: "These people are best at mental interference, and the Returning Sect is even more skilled in illusions!"

"Your mental attribute isn't high enough, how can you be sure you're targeting his true form? What if it's just bait? All that effort you put into improving your attributes will have been for nothing!"

Yi Jian paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth.

Han Jiangxue is right. When dealing with this kind of enemy, the worst thing you can do is get carried away.

"Then what should we do? Should we make them complete that ritual?" Yi Jian asked urgently as he fired a burst of fire, shattering a frozen enemy.

Han Jiangxue's gaze swept across the battlefield, her mind racing.

The enemy outnumbered them, and under the influence of the gradually forming starlight ritual field, their offensive became increasingly unpredictable and erratic.

She made a quick decision: "We can't panic! We'll hold our ground! You cover me, and I'll create favorable terrain!"

“Okay!” Yi Jian trusted his companion’s judgment without hesitation.

A golden light flashed in Han Jiangxue's eyes, and she slammed her palms into the ground, unleashing an extremely cold aura centered on her!
The crackling ice spread rapidly, not only enveloping her and Yi Jian in a semi-circular ice crystal fortress, but also turning a large area around them into a smooth and difficult-to-walk ice surface.

The enemy's charge was immediately halted; their steps faltered, and their movements became sluggish and stiff due to the cold. The ice fortress's surface was as smooth as a mirror, which to some extent interfered with the trajectory of the energy attacks, even reflecting some of them back, causing a moment of chaos.

"Beautiful!" Yi Jian exclaimed, firing repeatedly through the firing ports of the ice fortress.

His goal was no longer to find the indistinguishable Pingxingdou entity, but rather the believers and energy cores in the distance who were busy setting up and maintaining the ritual nodes.

With each shot fired, a certain point in the array would inevitably cause some kind of container to explode, disrupting the starlight that enveloped the entire area.

Ping Xingdou stood in the center of the distorted, lens-like ceremonial field, looking up at the false starry sky seen through the prison's holes, his brows slightly furrowed.

He clearly hadn't expected these two to be so troublesome, especially Han Jiangxue. Her ice-based abilities were not only excellent in defense and adept at attacking groups, but they could also alter the environment over a large area, slowing down or even disrupting his ritual arrangements.

He glanced in Han Jiangxue's direction, and the coldness in her gaze and the burning hatred deep within her eyes made him abandon any intention of communicating with her.

This woman is determined and hard to be swayed... no, it's more accurate to say that he's quite certain that this woman will not communicate with him at all.

His gaze shifted to Yi Jian, who was disrupting the ritual's progress.

A solid barrier of starlight rose up, temporarily blocking Yi Jian's bullets aimed at the critical point. At the same time, an illusion identical to Ping Xingdou pierced through the ice layer and appeared directly inside the ice fortress, standing in front of Yi Jian.

“Yi Jian,” the illusion of Ping Xingdou spoke, its voice strangely magnetic, “Stop. Don’t you understand? Everything we’ve done is to break this false cage and embrace the real future.” Yi Jian turned his gun on the illusion, coldly saying, “Who are you? The Ping Xingdou I know is a hard worker, responsible, and deeply in love with his lover. He would never use such manipulative and comrade-sacrificing methods!”

This ability to speak nonsense to anyone, even flattering enemies, caused Ping Xingdou's illusionary expression to become complicated for a moment. He seemed genuinely moved by the question; he hesitated for a moment before finally answering, "I am... Lord Xingjin."

"What is Star Lord? Where did Ping Xingdou go?" Yi Jian asked slowly, his finger steadily resting on the trigger.

"The Lord of Starfall is..."

Ping Xingdou's expression went blank for a moment, as if he himself wasn't quite sure about the definition, which was very strange.

"...In short, I am the Lord of Starfall," he said.

"Don't you think you've been brainwashed?" Yi Jian's words were like a cold awl, piercing straight to the core.

"No." Ping Xingdou's answer was mechanical and firm.

Why did you do this?

"For the future, for hope, for truth," Ping Xingdou repeated.

"You've forcibly linked these three things together; that's sophistry!" Yi Jian's voice rose, filled with anger: "Secret knowledge carries weight! If the so-called 'truth' is a much larger, more dangerous secret, rashly revealing it will only bring destruction and death! You're not guiding; you're plotting against everyone!"

"..." Ping Xingdou's thoughts were clearly confused, or rather, the 'truth' in his mind was itself contradictory: "I... future, hope, reality... reality... no... I..."

His voice trailed off as he lowered his head, as if engaged in a fierce internal struggle. Han Jiangxue stood guard nearby, and the temperature inside the ice fortress dropped even further.

A moment later, Ping Xingdou's illusion suddenly looked up, his face turning cold and obsessive, all traces of previous human complexity vanishing: "No. I only want the truth. I want to see the real starry sky." He spoke slowly, his tone sharp, "Truth guides me! Don't you have your own things you're passionate about?! Yi Jian! You've also come this far, you have beliefs! You can understand my yearning for 'truth'!"

"But you keep talking about the truth, yet you don't even dare to show your true self!" Yi Jian raised the gun in his hand and shouted, seemingly temporarily controlled by his emotions: "I do have beliefs, that's true, but I don't hide them like that! You're the only one worthy to speak to me! Giving an illusion to an old acquaintance, who the hell do you think you are!"

This statement seemed to have an effect. Ping Xingdou frowned; his rigid and inflexible way of thinking made him realize that Yi Jian's words made sense.

How can one hide behind illusions in the pursuit of truth?
His illusion vanished instantly.

Almost simultaneously, at the edge of the huge lens in the center of the distant ceremonial field, Ping Xingdou's true form was revealed.

He stopped gazing at the starry sky and turned around, his gaze piercing through space and landing directly on Yi Jian in the ice fortress.

opportunity!

Yi Jian's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and all his hesitation and probing turned into action at this moment!
The energy burning around him gathered at an unprecedented speed, and a sniper cannon, far more solid, larger, and radiating destructive light than ever before, instantly took shape!
"Then let you experience it—my belief!"

Yi Jian roared, pouring all his strength, will, trust in his comrades, and anger at the betrayal into this one strike!
"I will shoot down the risk that has not yet arrived!"

boom--!
A beam of light of unparalleled brilliance tore through the darkness, pierced through all the starlight barriers and distorting force fields along its path, and with the law of certainty, shot straight at Ping Xingdou's forehead at a speed beyond comprehension!

(End of this chapter)