Chapter 293: Chapter 291: The Coaxing of the False Heavenly Dao

He sneered, "I dare you to say that again."

As he spoke, Aaron Sinclair extended a hand, and a sword slowly materialized within it. "You dare insult my mother? You must have a death wish."

If their fight before was just a cat toying with a mouse, now Aaron was done playing games. Every one of his moves was ruthless, brimming with killing intent.

The two clashed in the sky above The Open Sea. The entire area began to tremble, and the water churned violently, as if the very ocean was being overturned.

At first, Jocelyn Grant could trade a few blows with him, but soon she found herself completely overwhelmed.

Jocelyn went from suffering minor injuries to spurting blood from all over her body. She struggled to fight back, mustering her Cultivation to form a defense. But Aaron shattered her efforts with a casual wave of his hand. In the end, Jocelyn bit her finger and drew a rune in the air.

Then, she smiled.

"You can’t kill me."

And with that, Jocelyn Grant’s figure vanished into thin air.

"She’s gone."

"Where the hell did she go?"

Aaron hovered in the air. He scanned the entire area with his Divine Sense, but to his surprise, he couldn’t detect even a whisper of Jocelyn Grant’s Primordial Spirit.

His brow furrowed slightly. ’She escaped?’ He had been planning to capture her and use her to test his concoctions. And she just slipped away.

This was the first time anyone had managed to escape his grasp. ’Good,’ he thought. ’She’s finally caught my attention. I’ll have to make sure I catch her next time to test my concoctions on.’

Jocelyn Grant was gone.

The battle was over.

This part of The Open Sea returned to its calm.

"Right, what about that snake?"

As he spoke, Aaron slowly descended to the surface of the sea. With a wave of his hand, the currents swirled, lifting the massive black snake’s corpse from the depths.

This part of the sea was teeming with Demonic Beasts. If his overwhelming pressure hadn’t cowed them into submission, the snake’s corpse would have been devoured in the blink of an eye, leaving not even a bone behind.

The snake before him was huge, its body as thick as a large bowl.

Aaron’s gaze fell upon the snake, and he clicked his tongue.

"For a snake to cultivate to this level is no small feat. A shame you had to fall for Jocelyn Grant of all people. She’s your downfall, she really is. Look at you. You just showed up, and poof, you’re gone. Not even a moment in the spotlight."

As he spoke, Aaron made a light slicing motion with his finger from a distance, directly extracting the black snake’s inner core.

Finding it a bit grimy, he even used magic to wash the inner core before storing it. For the next few days, Aaron didn’t go anywhere else. He found a suitable spot near The Open Sea and began performing alchemy with the materials at hand.

This black snake couldn’t go to waste. It was perfect for refining poison, especially while it was fresh.

In a clearing near The Open Sea, a cauldron bubbled with a pitch-black concoction. The young man standing beside it was stirring the murky contents with a stick.

"’Are the ingredients wrong? Why is it getting darker?’ he muttered. ’Let’s add some more herbs. A little of this... and this...’"

The Artifact Spirit of the Purple Fire Tripod, hovering beside him, looked utterly devoid of hope.

"What is this concoction? It stinks! Master, I feel so... sullied."

Aaron said, "Don’t worry... The ingredients must be off. Just wait, it’ll be a success soon. I’m completely sure of it."

’It was precisely that ’completely sure’ that was so terrifying. Every time its master said that, great danger was sure to follow. And just as it predicted, the next moment, a massive explosion erupted with Aaron at its center, sending a pillar of black smoke soaring into the heavens.’

The Purple Fire Tripod said, "Master, I think I’m a mature tripod now. I can handle the alchemy myself. There’s really no need for you to get involved."

Aaron replied, "Don’t you understand the principle of self-sufficiency?"

With that, he used magic to clean the Purple Fire Tripod and immediately began a new round of alchemy...

「At the same time.」

In a silent, separate dimension, an unknown power swirled around Jocelyn Grant as a voice echoed through the void.

"Useless, utterly useless... I expended so much energy to reconstruct your body and even pushed your Cultivation to the Late-stage Divinity Transformation. And yet you just let yourself get completely dominated. You’re the heroine of this world! The heroine!"

Jocelyn Grant grew furious upon hearing this.

"You have the nerve to blame me? Didn’t you tell me I was the heroine of this world? You said everyone was supposed to revolve around me, that I could have anything I wanted. So tell me, where did it all go wrong? I can feel that my life isn’t supposed to be this way."

She could feel it in her bones—her life was meant to be one where she was the center of attention, adored by all, with everyone supporting her unconditionally.

Why had it all changed?

After The World’s Will had spirited her away, Jocelyn had woken up in this very dimension.

Here, she met the Heavenly Dao. It reconstructed her body and helped her break through to the Late-stage Divinity Transformation.

In this silent space, the Heavenly Dao had told her everything. It told her she was a child of destiny, the heroine of this world. Her life was meant to be a smooth and easy journey, filled with endless fortunate encounters. In the end, she was even supposed to live happily ever after with the one she loved.

The World’s Will finally spoke.

"The course of destiny has deviated. Therefore, your fate has changed with it."

"Aren’t you the Heavenly Dao? Can’t you just make everything go back on track?"

The memory of being so thoroughly beaten flashed in her mind, and her face instantly contorted with rage.

"I’m still too weak. To get revenge, I need more power."

The World’s Will spoke again, its voice echoing from all around. "Do you truly wish to become stronger? Regardless of the cost?"

Jocelyn Grant nodded. Her hatred for Celeste Grant and Javier Sinclair was absolute, and now their son had been added to that list. All she wanted was revenge. She just wanted Celeste Grant and her family to die.

Thinking of this, she nodded slightly.

"Yes... I need power. As long as I can kill Celeste Grant, I’m willing to do anything."

Hearing this, the voice said, "Then there is only one way."

Jocelyn’s eyes lit up. ’There’s really a way?’ "What is it?"

The voice replied, "It would require me to temporarily possess your body. That way, you can borrow my power. With my strength, killing Celeste Grant and her family will be easy. And rest assured, the body will still be yours. I will only emerge when you need to call upon my power."

This...

Jocelyn hesitated.

But the thought of killing Celeste Grant and Javier Sinclair in one fell swoop made her think it was worth a try.

’I’m the heroine. It must be that only I can borrow the power of the Heavenly Dao.’ An arrogant expression spread across Jocelyn’s face. ’As I thought, the heavens are on my side. Celeste Grant, you can just go and die.’

"Fine, I agree."

"What do I need to do?"

"You don’t need to do anything. Just relax your mind and accept the power."

Jocelyn was completely consumed by her obsession. The prospect of gaining immense power without any effort had clouded her judgment, leaving no room for caution or consideration.